Sitting on the Edge: Modernist Design from the Collection of Michael and Gabrielle Boyd (Hardcover)

~ Aaron Betsky (Author), Paola Antonelli (Author), Philippe Garner (Author), Michael Boyd (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Chairs are often considered especially revealing of a designer's skill because of the strict limits placed on their design by the demands of the human body. Danish Chairs is a comprehensive examination of dozens of chairs from the first three-quarters of this century. Each chair is illustrated with multiple photographs and sometimes by line drawings as well. In addition, biographical information is supplied for the designers listed. Although there is a short introductory essay on Danish furniture design and brief notes on each designer and their chairs, Japanese art professor Oda's emphasis is visual, and so it is a pity that the elegant book design suffers from the graininess of the photos. Sitting on the Edge has a wider geographic range and includes some other furniture, but it is basically a look at how designers responded to 20th-century architecture through chair design. Published as an exhibition catalog, it uses colorful illustrations to depict both individual items and complete rooms in the home of the collecting couple, Michael and Gabrielle Boyd. A number of short essays by distinguished curator-authors discuss the role of design in modern life and explore the chair as an exemplar of design. Visually exciting, with good-quality printing, the volume is flawed only by unreadable chapter introductions printed over unseeable historical photos. Danish Chairs, as an intensive examination of a more limited area, will be of most interest to art and design libraries, while Sitting on the Edge will appeal to a broader spectrum of libraries.ADavid McClelland, Philadelphia
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

One hundred chairs, couches, other seating furniture, and objects from what is perhaps the most important and comprehensive collection of modernist furniture in priate hands have been newly photographed in color for this lavish book. Accompanying an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, this bok spans the 20th century as it showcases the work of modern masters ranging from Peter Behrens, Otto wagner, and Gerrit Rietveld, throug LeCorbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, to Wendell Castle, Donald Judd, and Marco Zanuso.

Sitting on the Edge will delight and inform design professionals as well as anyone with a passion for style.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications (January 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847821676
• ISBN-13: 978-0847821679
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,051,582 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Sitting on the edge of a great book, December 13, 1999

By	Harold Hollingsworth (Seattle, WA.) - See all my reviews

Sitting on the Edge: Modernist Design, is a well put together book, and a rare find in modern furnishing circles. A great review of Michael and Gabrielle Boyd's collection, which as one can see by the list, is stunning. The pictures of the pieces in the collection though are the catch all. Full page photographs, beautiful type, well laid out, and a great collection at one's finger tips, I personally couldn't ask for more, except perhaps the actual pieces of furniture in the collection. If you love Modernist furniture, go with this one!