The Liz O’Brien gallery is the place to go if you like 20th century decorative arts and, in particular, architect-designed pieces for specific interiors. On a recent visit to the O’Brien gallery, I was quite taken by three Commedia dell’Arte panels depicting dancing marionettes and their marioneteers by the Russian born artist Eugene Berman (1899-1972). Berman worked in a highly imaginative style, and was an important figure among the Neo-Romantics and Surrealist in Paris as well as in the U.S.. These magnificent panels create a fantastic set-like backdrop for a sophisticated seating arrangement consisting of a pair of Jansen canapes, a pair of Frances Elkins small Queen Anne style chairs in an ivory glazed wood, and a Samuel Marx serpentine low table in lacquered wood topped by a super-chic pair of glass and mirror hurricanes designed by the legendary Albert Hadley, my mentor and former employer.
Seated on one of the Jansen canapes, I am wearing a dusty pale blue suede motorcycle jacket by Gucci gucci.com, a fuchsia silk turtle neck sweater, grey flannel pants by Gucci, and silver leather sneakers by Dior.