Photo gallery: Dallas Museum of Art exhibit The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs

by John P. Meyer

Opening at the Dallas Museum of Art on Sunday, Sept. 20 and running through Jan. 13 of next year, The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs provides a fascinating look at the work of a man who considered himself a maker of artistic furniture as opposed to a furniture maker in the traditional sense.

You will see the distinction as soon as you walk into the exhibit (in the DMA's Chilton I Gallery): Functionality is oftentimes sacrificed for the sake of expressionist flourish. Take the ornately-carved (and incredibly uncomfortable looking) desk chair and companion rotating top desk in the entry alcove. Rohlfs' chairs in particular appear to have been created with no functionality whatsoever in mind, as the gallery visitor will discover the further he or she penetrates into the exhibit.

The closest basis for comparison for what Rohlfs was up to would be the Arts and Crafts movement (note that there's a Stickley exhibit in the DMA's future), but he also resorted to medieval, Asian, Moorish, and Germanic expressions in his unique creations.

Rohlfs -- who was active as a furniture maker beginning in the late nineteenth century -- worked in oak, which makes the intricacy of the carving employed all the more fantastic. As any cabinetmaker knows, oak is both hard to carve and fragile. That's why softer woods such as mahogany were favored by most furniture makers with an interest in filligree or other delicate carving. Yet Rohlfs somehow made it work.

There are about 45 pieces in the traveling exhibit (organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum), and as you'll see from the photo gallery, they range from the kind of furniture items one would expect (chests, desks, chairs) to the sorts of things not necessarily associated with furniture per se (candelabra, chafing dishes, goblets).

Our pre-opening press tour was conducted by exhibit curator (and author of the book by the same name) Joseph Cunningham, who is curator of the American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation in New York. He's a nationally-known authority on 20th century art and design, and he made for a gracious host as we toured around the exhibit.

Also on hand to offer his own commentary and insight was Kevin Tucker, curator of decorative arts and design at the DMA.

Thanks to our DMA hosts Jill Bernstein and Elysa Nelson for making the press tour a pleasant one.