The Art of Seating

You’ll never sit the same. 

The Museum’s gallery will be transformed with this exhibition featuring more than 40 iconic chairs that tell the dynamic and engaging story of the history, design, and culture of American seating. The Art of Seating carries the viewer through three centuries of design ranging from a Shaker rocking chair to Frank Lloyd Wright’s office chair. Styles represented in the exhibition include Victorian revival, Arts and Crafts, modern, postmodern, and contemporary. The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to compare the decorative art on view in the gallery to the furnishings of Reynolda’s historic house collection, considering the domestic role of chairs in American culture. 

Learn more. Browse our online gallery of the Chairs at Reynolda at reynoldahouse.org and follow @GalleryStool on Twitter for observations from Museum galleries. Plus, explore how the Piedmont Triad is discovering the art of seating in a variety of collaborative programs throughout the area. 

The Art of Seating is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville in collaboration with the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.

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Image Credits: 

Designed and Manufactured by Vivian Beer (b. 1977), Penland, NC, Current, 2004Photo by Douglas J. Eng.

Designed by Charles Eames (1907-1978) and Ray Eames (1912-1988), Manufactured by Evans Products, Co. for Herman Miller Furniture Company (Est. 1923), Grand Rapids, MI, LCW (Lounge Chair Wood), c. 1945, Photo by Michael Koryta and Andrew VanStyn, Director of Acquisitions, Conservation and Photography

Designed by Thomas E. Warren (active with American Chair Co. 1849-52), Manufactured by the American Chair Co. (1829-1858), Troy, NY, Centripetal Spring Arm Chair, c. 1850Photo by Michael Koryta and Andrew VanStyn, Director of Acquisitions, Conservation, and Photography 

Designed by David Wolcott Kendall (1851-1910),Manufactured by Phoenix Furniture Company (Founded 1870), Grand Rapids, MI, “McKinley” Arm Chair, c. 1894-96, Photo by Michael Koryta and Andrew VanStyn, Director of Acquisitions, Conservation, and Photography  

Designed by Warren McArthur Jr. (1885-1961), Manufactured by Warren McArthur Corp., Rome, NY, Sling Seat Lounge Chair, c. 1935, Photo by Michael Koryta and Andrew VanStyn, Director of Acquisitions, Conservation, and Photography