DesignBiz Rx Weblog

While the emphasis of this blog is about business, it is, after all, about design business, so I’m starting an “official policy” of posting about design on Friday’s, to start the weekends off with a little eye candy.

Double Vision: 1930s Design at Winterthur is the current exhibition at this unique American estate and museum. Visitors are given a set of 3D glasses with which to view a series of stereographic images (think ViewMasters) taken of the private and public rooms of the home in both 1935 and 1938. The images, originally shot in B&W and then each carefully handpainted, show how Henry Francis du Pont reflected the changing seasonal landscape in Winterthur’s rooms, as rugs, draperies, and upholstery covers were rotated in and out of use. They also provide a time-capsule view of how du Pont used his ever-growing collection of American antiques and architectural elements in a contemporary manner.

Double Vision runs through May 18, 2008. Chic It Up, a two-day conference on design in the 1930s will serve as a wrap-up to the exhibition. If you live in or are traveling to the SouthEast this spring, it sounds like a wonderful event. Check the Winterthur website for a complete list of speakers and times for the final weekend.  

Guests would gather in the Chinese Parlor for pre-dinner drinks and post-dinner card games. Named for its hand-painted chinoiserie wallpaper, du Pont insisted that all flowers in the room must complement the colors of the paper. (Photo: Winterthur Archives)

The loggia, with its overscale checkerboard flooring and faux bamboo painted iron chairs and settees, provided a welcoming refuge no matter what the weather. (Photo: Winterthur Archives)