On view at the Cooper Hewitt during the fall of 2022, this exhibition showcases fanciful drawings and prints by Michel Angelo Pergolesi (died 1801), an Italian-born, London-based artist and interior designer whose professional specialty, in his words, was “the ornaments of the ancients.”
Pergolesi embraced neoclassical ornamental motifs inspired by artifacts from ancient Greece and Rome, such as those discovered some years earlier in Pompeii. This exhibition brings renewed attention to Pergolesi’s work and highlights the ancient decorative patterns he helped to revive.
The exhibition is staged in the historic ground floor galleries of the Carnegie Mansion (1902), spaces teeming with neoclassical ornamental designs that relate strongly to Pergolesi’s work in Britain a century earlier.
The exhibition calls attention to how ancient ornament continues to shape our environments today. To emphasize this, the exhibition design includes new furniture embellished with playful neoclassical motifs.
Patterns include (from top) the Vitruvian Wave, ropes, dentils, and egg & dart. Fabricated with machine cut vinyl, these patterns were developed in collaboration with graphic designer Kelly Sung and the museum’s curatorial and exhibition teams.
The exhibition design included two bespoke elliptical cases for the display of antique books showcasing the design work of Pergolesi and his notable contemporary Robert Adam.
Other exhibition furniture included a round bench to offer a place to sit and rest.
The show was conceived and curated by Julia Siemon of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Exhibition design was by Field Guide, with graphic design in collaboration with Kelly Sung and production by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
All photographs courtesy of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum unless noted otherwise.
