This exhibition traces the use of botanical forms in the decorative arts of the late 18^th through the early 20^th centuries. The show includes stellar objects from well known designers such as Christopher Dresser, Emile Gallé, William Morris, and Louis Comfort Tiffany as well as historic reference books and botanical drawings.

 

The gallery features two large, permanently-installed glass display cases.  These cases  typically include solid interior partitions for two-sided viewing and display.  For this show, all interior partitions were removed, allowing sculptural objects to be seen in the round and to provide a greater sense of openness within the show.

Gallery walls were painted a light green tone and left largely blank, to create a calm within the space and heighten the focus on the objects within the cases.

Wall graphics taken from period drawings add interest in key areas.

On view from 2019 through 2022, the exhibition was curated by Emily Marshall Orr.

American cochineal [Dactylopius coccus], a small parasitic insect that feeds on the prickly pear cactus, was for centuries the source of the most coveted red pigment in the world. Although it was replaced by synthetic dyes in the 19th and 20th centuries, Cochineal remains of interest to designers for its wide range of natural hues and its artistic, cultural, and economic significance for indigenous peoples of Mexico and the Andean highlands of South America.

This exhibition brings together a variety of objects made with or related to Cochineal, including a wide variety of contemporary design objects.  A custom wallpaper with an abstract world map, designed by Gloria Cortina, is highlighted on one of the gallery walls.

This exhibition explores the 19th-century intersection of nature and design in the through models and illustrated books. Highlighting the exhibition are thirteen colorful models made by the R. Brendel Company and on loan from the National Museum of American History.

Dating from the late 19th and early 20th century, each model features a custom aluminum lift to create an organic, naturalistic effect within the display case.

PAISLEY

 

The teardrop-shaped motif popularly known as paisley has persisted for centuries, and its design variations over time reflect the diversity of natural forms.  This exhibition highlighted seldom-seen objects from the museum’s collection, including numerous oversized shawls from the 18th and 19th centuries, juxtaposed with new fashion acquisitions making use of the timeless motif.

After Icebergs

In the summer of 1859, Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900)—the most celebrated American landscape painter of his time—journeyed to Newfoundland and Labrador to study and sketch icebergs in preparation for a monumental oil painting. This exhibition collects standout examples of Church’s studies, displaying them in the Carnegie Mansion’s iconic Teak Room.

Chruch was accompanied on the voyage by his friend Louis Legrand Noble, whose book chronicling the adventure, After Icebergs with a Painter: A Summer Voyage to Labrador and Around Newfoundland, inspired this show’s title.  In a time of climate change and sea level rise, the exhibition reminds us that icebergs are portions of melting glaciers, and offers a moment to reflect on the fragility of the natural world.