Lee Jaehyo’s functional sculpture

It is really with this generation of product designers and artists that art with function has entered mainstream thinking and never before has there been such closeness between the fine and applied arts as there is today.  A perfect example of this are the brilliant wood sculptures of South Korean artist Lee Jaehyo.

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An LED-lighting marvel in Abu Dhabi

Sitting pretty on Yas Island, a smallish island off the coast of the UAE, between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is the Yas Hotel, the only 5-star hotel in the world that can boast a 143 berth marina with mega-yacht capability, a Formula-1 circuit motorway running THROUGH it, and “the crown jewel of Abu Dhabi golf courses” (I leave you to imagine that monumental space).  Amazing as this is to the armchair traveler, what I personally find most interesting is the architecture and lighting features of the hotel designed by the New York City-based firm asymptote architecture.

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A lost Leonardo da Vinci resurfaces ... really!

In the field of Old Master Paintings, where the artists have long passed, the pleasure of the old master connoisseur is reserved for the discovery of new works in the body of an artist, particularly a blue chip artist.  But more often than not, the discoveries splashed over the newspapers or made-for-rating television programs are figments of people’s imagination. But once in a blue moon, a colossal discovery is made.

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Project Pickboard | richard rabel: using 1st dibs in a living room – final (5/5)

For the past 4 days, I’ve selected pieces of inspirational beauty from 1stdibs.com, a terrific online resource for art and home furnishings.  Why only from them? Mainly because I wanted to prove this was possible.  I still like going to places, touching the pieces and speaking face-to-face with the store/gallery owners, but this is certainly an option… if not for an ENTIRE project, at least for a good part of it.

In this case, the client, a bachelor banker in his 30s, wants a stylish living room with unique vintage pieces.  Here I’ve gathered my picks in a “pickboard” and included a sketch of the layout for your reference.  For specific info on each piece or to see why I selected them, please visit the posts from earlier in the week.

Obviously a finished room needs more than several items of furniture/art to make it a truly stylish, comfortable and livable space, but this is a first step. One cannot forget to consider the room layout, architecture, volume and size when selecting furniture/art/accessories. Wall, floor, door and window treatments; pillows, accessories and the furniture layout all need to be layered and work well together in order to make a room sing.  Not bad for a week’s work!


Click here to see part 1/5 of the 1stdibs living room project
Click here to see part 2/5 of the 1stdibs living room project
Click here to see part 3/5 of the 1stdibs living room project
Click here to see part 4/5 of the 1stdibs living room project

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Project Pickboard | richard rabel: using 1st dibs in a living room – (4/5)

Today is day four of our bachelor pad living room decoration and it is also Thanksgiving in the US.  Happy Turkey day!!!

Art is such an important part of a well conceived room. It’s the “jewelry” that makes the rest of the room look fabulous.  For this space, I picked both a sculpture and a painting.

The painting, The Great Gatsby IV by contemporary artist Tim Rollins and K.O.S. is a piece that shocks the room to the next level.  For starters, in a room with earthy colored pieces, this rich coral-colored work of art works extraordinarily well in that it draws your eye into the room on first entry.  It gives the room a focus point.  Represented by the venerable Lehmann-Maupin Gallery via 1stdibs.com, the artist is well known and paints in his workshop with a group of at-risk-students from the Bronx who call themselves kids of survival (K.O.S.).

From the side entrance and looking into the room, your eye is drawn to the window. In front of the window, I’ve selected to place Cristal, a bronze sculpture by the German-French sculptor Jean Arp from Leslie Sacks Fine Art via 1stdibs.com.  Conceived in plaster in 1938, the cast was made in 1959 and both in color and shape, the sculpture works magic in the room.  To display the piece, a 1950s ebonized and travertine pedestal was picked from Buck House via 1stdibs.com.

image credit: (top) Lehmann-Maupin Gallery; (center) Leslie Sacks Fine Art; (bottom) Buck House

Click here to see part 1/5 of the 1stdibs living room project 

Click here to see part 2/5 of the 1stdibs living room project 

Click here to see part 3/5 of the 1stdibs living room project 

Click here to see part 5/5 (final) of the 1stdibs living room project 

To go to the blog's HOME page click here

Project Pickboard | richard rabel: using 1st dibs in a living room – (3/5)

Today is day three of our week-long bachelor pad living room make over.

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Project Pickboard | richard rabel: using 1st dibs in a living room – (2/5)

Today is day two of our bachelor pad living room make over.

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Project Pickboard | richard rabel: using 1st dibs in a living room – (1/5)

This week I’ll be selecting and grouping furniture and accessories for a potential bachelor’s living room vignette with pieces ONLY found at 1stdibs.com, the online marketplace that for years has been the favorite of designers worldwide.  Each day I will select 1 piece and on Friday, bring my picks together in what I call a “Pickboard” so that you can appreciate how the room will work.

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The minimalist modern interiors of brad ford

Last year during a presentation, a potential client was leafing through my portfolio and stopped at one project and said “Is this yours or Brad Ford’s”. As a creative type, comments like these are enough to immediately catch you off guard.  I did not really know much about Brad, but you can be assured I raced back to my office and googled the guy!

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Chu Teh-Chun’s inner light

Chinese artist Chu Teh-Chun (b. 1920) has been a fixture on the Hong Kong contemporary scene for years, and although he has a presence in the West (predominantly France where he is a member of the prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts) relatively few people outside these circles know his accomplished art.  Perhaps it is time to take note of the 91 year-old painter!

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Stripping time

I recently came across Steel Vintage in Bristol, England as a source of restored and customized 20^th century industrial furniture.  There are sooooo many places where I would consider placing one of their pieces … one or several lockers in a child’s room as fun wardrobes or with shelves in a kitchen as a pantry or even storage in a large bathroom; a desk in a home office; a working table in a kitchen, office or dinning nook and the list goes on and on. Really cool for the industrial loft look!

 image credits: steel vintage

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Wooly and peacock

One of the most refreshing and fun aspects of any visit to the International Furniture Fairs in Milan, New York or Paris is finding new talent. And while sometimes that talent still lacks a certain polish and the products are sophomoric, sometimes the finds are truly special.  This is exactly what happened last Spring at the Milan show.

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Roman Thomas

Since I first saw one of their few advertisements years ago, I have completely obsessed over the beautiful furniture of American cabinetmaker Roman Thomas.  I hope you can see what I mean.  Inspired by the simple lines of American mid-century furniture, his pieces are perfectly scaled and fresh in their design.  He has the eye for detail, so his pieces are all hand made with the utmost care while utilizing only the finest materials available.  If he thinks a particular cabinet needs a perfectly proportioned brass foot, he will add it … price not being a concern.

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The Zen canvases of Johnnie Winona Ross

At a glance, it is perhaps easy to confuse the pastel colored canvases of the talented Winona Ross with that of his predecessor, the great Agnes Martin.  Not only are they both stylistically similar, but are spiritual as well.  You see, both American artists take their inspiration and colors from the New Mexico landscape; the former lived in that state for about 10 years and kept her inspiration of that place whilst working in New York until she passed in 2004; the latter has lived in New Mexico for the last 12 years. But aside from this, they are both two very different and remarkable artists in their own right.

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marvelous? clearly.

In July, I wrote a post on the Ghost Chair by Cini Boeri and Tomu Takayanagi. Being made of glass, I was surprised by their beauty, solidity and comfort. And with that, I started investigating more about glass furniture only to find out the Italian firm Fiam (for whom the chair was designed) has been developing, designing and producing furniture in curved glass since 1973!!!  They’ve collaborated with superstar designers from Ron Arad to Philippe Starck and now the Belgian interior designer Xavier Lust has designed for them the amazingly stunning Graph Desk.

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guest blogging @ canada's rikrak studio (3/3)

Shopping NYC Auctions for less than US$1000

image credit: Doyle New York

Shopping the New York auctions can be a daunting task, but if you keep an eye on the prize, it can turn into a rewarding experience.  In my third and last of a series of guest features for Canada’s The Rik Rak Studio (The 1st was on  sculpture hopping through NY parks; the 2nd was on shopping my favorite home shops in SOHO), I approach 3 different auction houses which you may not have heard of (Doyle, Swann and Bonhams) and shop for quality items estimated at less than US$1,000.  Check out this 3rd feature here.

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the modern "crystal" chandelier

People may not know this, but early on I was interested in biology and chemistry. Somewhere along the line that thankfully changed.  But sometimes the things you dig early on are hard to shake off.  So when I was looking for several pendant fixtures for a project, I immediately was attracted to the flying molecule-looking spheres of the Bollicine pendant by Marchetti Illuminazione in Ancona, Italy.  What a wonderful piece!

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The colorful interiors of oitoemponto

Oitoemponto (Eight sharp) is the Porto, Portugal-based Interiors Firm of eclectic and talented designers Artur Miranda and Jacques Bec.  One of the things I admire about this duo is their slightly restrained yet fearless approach to unique midcentury design and the formal precision of their interiors.

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Reality according to Richter

Although Gerhard Richter’s photo-paintings are among his earliest works of art, I first took careful notice of them in the Spring of 2009 when the National Portrait Gallery in London organized an exhibition of Richter’s Portraits.  But what were they? … manipulated photos, paintings of photos, photos with paint? Soon I realized they were meticulously realistic paintings based on actual photographs and blurred by dragging wet paint over the canvas with a dry brush.  When so much gimmickry is out there in contemporary art, this proved to be by my account, simply masterful!

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Poltrona frau … "la imperatrice" of Italian furniture design

Few can argue the Italians are not the most prolific and ingenious of designers.  You may not agree with the taste of some pieces, but overall, they are the brightest designers and artisans in the world. One company that has been at the pinnacle of quality and innovation in producing furniture of timeless beauty is Turin-based Poltrona Frau.  Backed by almost 100 years of tradition, this company lives in the present by inviting top product designers to work with them in developing super luxurious contemporary pieces.

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China’s 2x2 inch Imperial past

Now and again I write about art which is not necessarily modern looking or made, but art that captivates the fascination of today’s contemporary collector.

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a curvaceous beauty

I ran across this table earlier in the year when it debuted in the Milan Furniture Design Fair and found its shape yummy enough to get an image for my files.  The Quark table is designed by the multi-talented French designer Emmanuel Babled for the Italian firm Metea and measures 32.3/4 x 48.1/4 x 11.3/4 in. | 83 x 122.5 x 30 cm. Truly a pan-European effort!!!

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