
White #4
1951
This image shows an elegant dining room interior featuring what appears to be an abstract painting on the wall. The muted, textured wall-sized work in earth tones demonstrates the atmospheric quality associated with Sam Francis's early abstract expressionist period. The setting suggests the painting's integration into a sophisticated modernist interior design context.
Notes
Art Deco apartment in Manhattan reimagined by Barbara Barry to house an impressive private collection of modern art. Photography by Jaime Ardiles-Arce for AD, 1998. The apartment, which the client uses when he comes to New York for both business and pleasure, had not been reworked since the building was erected in the 1920s; it was, Barry recalls, a warren of tiny spaces. Her objective was to create an incongruous mix: a loft like home in a landmark building, an apartment at once luxurious and spare. "We took out every single wall and re- thought the entire space." Barry envisioned the rooms as containers for the art, not as competition. In a living room that's dominated by a Picasso and a de Kooning, she eschewed gallery-white walls, opting instead for a color resembling candle wax. Sam Francis's 1951 White #4 hangs before the table and chairs, all designed by Barry. Calvin Klein glassware, dishes and vase. - Via Sebeau
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