Wednesday, July 21, 2010

BERGMAN APARTMENT, 1973

The Chicago apartment of Lindy and Edward Bergman has always been fascinating to me and my recollection of seeing it in the January/February 1973 issue of Architectural Digest was refreshed when I pulled that issue off the shelf at my parents' apartment recently. The Bergman's collected an important assembly of surrealist art which has since been given to the Art Institute of Chicago. The collection includes very important examples by de Chirico, Tanguy, Dali, Magritte, Marisol, Delvaux and many other artists. The decoration of their apartment was remarkable because it appears fairly modest, but a close look at the photographs published in Architectural Digest shows extraordinary juxtapositions of modern, surrealist and African art, 17th and 18th century English furniture and luxurious wallcoverings and textiles. I've never seen any other interior quite like this one. It's incredibly rich but extremely subtle.  I love the houseplants throughout. The interiors were designed by Virginia Phillips. Click on the photos to see more detail.


Library: wallcovering and curtains in pewter suede. Art by Marisol, Calder, Friedeberg, English furniture, African textiles, modern leather sofa.

Bedroom: art by Paul Delvaux, Claes Oldenburg, Joseph Cornell, Asian furniture, pre-Columbian jewelry mounted on wall; wallcovering is pink and bronze tone damask; chandelier is early 19th century gilt-bronze.

Living room: leather-covered Chesterfield sofa, hand-woven curtains by Maria Kipp, bronze table by Giacometti, sculptures by Arp, Bontecou, Cornell

Living room: batik velvet upholstery, African, South Pacific and pre-Columbian art, 18th century English secretary, paintings by Enrico Baj and Giorgio de Chirico; Picasso ceramics and coffee table made out of a Sicilian donkey cart.

Living room: art nouveau leaded glass fire screen, old English furniture, art by Picasso, Ernst, et al. Note houseplants.

Handwoven curtains by Maria Kipp, boxes by Joseph Cornell, Oceanic art, houseplants.

Foyer, wood paneling, Elizabethan wedding chest and Hamadan wedding rug, art by Miro, Marisol and Brauner.

Dining room: wood paneled walls, Liberty-style silk curtains, Georgian furniture, paintings by Magritte and Tanguy, sculptures by Miro and George Segal.


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