Alexander Levy Catalog Cover Deco Bronze De Silva Oil Painting
This collection includes; a large selection of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, some Mid-Century Modern furniture, Modern Art and Contemporary paintings prints and sculptures. Dr. Michaels is well known as a patron of regional arts. He has many paintings from New York City to Cleveland, Ohio and locations in between such as Rochester. Much of what the collection showcases is decorative art. Decorative Art originally not separated from Fine Art is a modern term (and a term embraced during the time of Art Nouveau as Decorative Art being different from Art serving no purpose except as an aesthetic) and art that can serve a purpose such as furniture, trays, lamps and silverware. Art Nouveau comes from the idea of embracing and embellishing the industrial world of the 1880's to the First World War. They did not resist what was happening in the world, they incorporated their work to accommodate the world. They used more naturalistic images and stark geometric forms in harmony with what could be viewed as a cold and stark environment. Art Nouveau was fully embraced and brought light and grace to a period of time characterized by writers like Dickens that exposed the harsh reality of the factory and mechanized production. The artists of the time unlike Dickens brought form and elegance to the world. Once the First World War started the movement came to an end.
It was followed up by Art Deco. The brutal reality of what the world had endured and the advances in technology brought artists together. This time they both embraced the post war period and reveled in the peace ensuing. The jazzed up culture of the Twenties and the modern materials such as stainless steel and chrome became elements of their style. However, the carefree freedom and joy of the post war era gave life to "modern and neoclassical" forms characterized by Art Deco. A style named for Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. The exposition held in Paris in 1925. There they displayed Decorative Art as serving limited or no purpose with the appearance that it could. They created a grey area pronouncing the Decorative Arts were to be celebrated on equal footing as they have been throughout most of History. The clash of the contemporary (to the Exposition) schools of art and the march of Decorative Art are often described as "violent". The Exposition embraced the skill incorporated by the Sculptors of Parisian schools, print makers, painters, furniture makers and Decorative Art designers. It was an attempt for them to move into other mediums snubbed by the traditional Contemporary artists of the time.
I will go to information on the other art collected, but for now the cherished portion of the collection prominently dedicated to Art Deco and Art Nouveau deserves special recognition.
