Interior Design
In 1929, financed by the American millionaire Jock Whitney, he opened a gallery, Curtis Moffat Ltd., at 4 Fitzroy Square in London. Two adjoining houses were converted into showrooms with a flat above designed by the architect Frederick Etchells. The showrooms combined modern interior design and lighting with one of the first major collections of African tribal sculpture in London. Objects for sale ranged from 16th century antiques to rugs by Edward McKnight Kauffer and Marion Dorn, and modern china, silver and glass. The insides of the cupboard doors were painted by Francis Wyndham.
Moffat undertook interior design commissions, often collaborating with John Duncan Miller. In 1930 one of the rooms was converted to a picture gallery and run by Freddie Mayor. Opening with a show of work by Augustus John, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant among others, its last show, "Since Cezanne", featured artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani. In 1933, due to the Great Depression, financial backing was withdrawn and the gallery closed.
Read more about this topic: Curtis Moffat
Famous quotes containing the words interior and/or design:
“The work of art, just like any fragment of human life considered in its deepest meaning, seems to me devoid of value if it does not offer the hardness, the rigidity, the regularity, the luster on every interior and exterior facet, of the crystal.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)
“The reason American cars don’t sell anymore is that they have forgotten how to design the American Dream. What does it matter if you buy a car today or six months from now, because cars are not beautiful. That’s why the American auto industry is in trouble: no design, no desire.”
—Karl Lagerfeld (b. 1938)