Moderne Gallery is an American art and design gallery in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania that focuses on art and furniture from the American studio craft movement of the 20th century. Moderne Gallery maintains a large collection of ceramics, woodwork,

woodturning Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator is kno ...

, glass, and metalwork.

History

The gallery was founded in 1984 by Robert Aibel. Initially, Moderne was focused on French

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

work, but In 1985, the gallery pivoted to focusing on artwork and furniture from the Studio craft movement after selling a dining table and chair set created by

George Nakashima George Katsutoshi Nakashima ( ''Nakashima Katsutoshi'', May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was an American woodworker and architect. In 1983, he accepted the Order of the Sacred Treasure, an honor bestowed by the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese ...

. Shortly thereafter Moderne became the first gallery to start promoting Nakashima's work. Moderne Gallery is considered an instrumental organization in making George Nakashima a more recognizable artist of 20th century modern design. Along with other art studios and local collectors, Moderne Gallery launched a pop-up exhibition and design showroom. The exhibit was held in 2016 around the

New Kensington New Kensington (known locally as New Ken) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 12,170 at the 2020 census. It is situated along the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh and is part of the Pittsb ...

arts district. In 2022, Moderne Gallery was listed as one of the best furniture stores in Philadelphia by

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

Location

Moderne Gallery had its studio in

Old City, Philadelphia Old City is a neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, near the Delaware River waterfront. It is home to Independence National Historical Park, a dense section of historic landmarks including Independence Hall, ...

from 1984 to 2018. In 2019, Moderne Gallery moved to a 4,500 square foot gallery in

Port Richmond, Philadelphia Port Richmond is a neighborhood in the River Wards section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is notable for its large Polish immigrant and Polish American community, and it has been known as the Little Poland of Philadelphia. The ...

Artists

Moderne Gallery is considered a leading Nakashima dealer and has organized several exhibits for the artist. Moderne also showcases art and woodwork by Nakashima's daughter, Mira Nakashima. Other artists Moderne Gallery promotes: * Eric Allen * John Eric Byers *

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

* Miriam Carpenter * Arthur Espenet Carpenter * Wendell Castle *

John Cederquist John Carl Cederquist (born August 7, 1946) is an American sculptor in wood and builder of studio furniture who was born in Altadena, California. He graduated from Long Beach State College with a BA in 1969 and an MA in 1971. Cederquist is best ...

* John Conver Lutz * Zein Daouk * Fabien Dubrunfaut * Karima Duchamp * David Ebner *

Wharton Esherick Wharton Esherick (July 15, 1887 – May 6, 1970) was an American artist and designer. An artistic polymath, he worked in a wide variety of art media including painting, printmaking, and sculpture. His design works range from architectural int ...

David Gilhooly David Gilhooly (also known as David James Gilhooly III; April 15, 1943 – August 21, 2013) was an American ceramicist, sculptor, painter, printmaker, and professor. He is best known for pioneering the Funk art movement. He made a series of ...

* Estelle Halper * Dan Jackson * Riyoo Kim *

Sam Maloof Sam Maloof (January 24, 1916 – May 21, 2009)
''Press-Enterprise'' ...

Emil Milan Emil Milan ('ɛmil Mɪ'lɑːn; May 17, 1922 – April 5, 1985) was an American woodworker known for his carved bowls, birds, and other accessories and art in wood. Trained as a sculptor at the Art Students League of New York, he designed and made w ...

* Jere Osgood * Caprice Pierucci * James Prestini * Don Reitz *

Bob Stocksdale Bob Stocksdale (1913 January 6, 2003) was an American woodturner, known for his bowls formed from rare and exotic woods. He was raised on his family farm and enjoyed working with tools. His wife of more than 30 years, Kay Sekimachi, stated th ...

Toshiko Takaezu Toshiko Takaezu (June 17, 1922 – March 9, 2011) was an American ceramic artist, painter, sculptor, and educator whose oeuvre spanned a wide range of mediums, including ceramics, weavings, bronzes, and paintings. She was noted for her pioneerin ...

* Tanaka Tomomi * Ryo Toyonaga

References

{{reflist Art museums and galleries in Philadelphia American companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in Pennsylvania