Natural Fiber Furniture

A rope and iron lounge chair.

Media consists of fiber, paint, shellac on a linen canvas. Beautiful wood frame. Frank Faulkner by Philip Herrera, 2006: Born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1946, Frank Faulkner received his B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1968, Phi Beta Kappa, and his M.F.A. from the same institution in 1972. Faulkner’s work quickly won him numerous grants and awards, including an individual artist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974. He was selected for the Whitney Biennial in 1975, which prompted him to settle in New York. There, he came to the attention of Dorothy Miller, Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art with a legendary eye for new talent. Since then, Faulkner has continued to garner acclaim and awards. He has been featured in dozens of one-person exhibitions (not to mention group exhibitions) in this country, as well as in Japan, Switzerland, and Germany. Faulkner’s work is owned by leading museums (the Smith College museum in Northampton, Massachusetts, for example, the National Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C.) and by renowned collectors such as Nelson Rockefeller, Baron Leon Lambert, Phillip Hanes and Abba Eban. What a viewer first notices is the sheer elegance of the pieces, no matter what materials Faulkner uses—metal, wood and fabric as well as canvas and paper. Obvious, too, is the artist’s originality. Faulkner belongs to no school. His work is patterned but is far too intellectual to qualify as so-called “pattern art,” which mainly strives to be merely pretty. Rather, he paints in his own highly organized way, filling the surface without being excessive or boring. Faulkner sets up a system, say, of dots or dashes, then subtly changes the visual rhythms in order to add life and surprise—what he calls “the gymnastics of seeing.” He works and reworks the surfaces of his canvases, often laying down one thin layer of slightly reflective gold, silver or bronze paint upon another until the final work seems to glow with inner light. John Ashbery, a leading critic and poet, has likened Faulkner’s art to minimalist music, which achieves both simplicity and beauty from its obsessive repetitions. The critic Carter Ratcliff describes it more simply as “brilliant artifice.” Faulkner’s current work, a series of paintings on paper, continues and deepens this exploration of the relationship between wrought surface and changing light. Another striking aspect of the work is the influence of the decorative arts. Faulkner has made some paintings on wood that stand independently and fold open like screens. Other pieces resemble large tapestries, and yet others take their inspiration from Art Nouveau inlays...

French Louis XV style beautifully carved bergere with caning from the 19th century. This wonderfully carved bergere has an old but later white and gray painted finish and is glazed w...

T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb rare 1950s sideboard or cabinet in rich deep walnut including central drawers with original circular woven rattan handles and brass end caps, cab...

30381 new Dhurrie flat-weave Kilim rug with modern Lake House style, Custom area rug. Freshen up your space and inject color without going polychrome...

Vintage pencil reed étagère shelves in the manner of Gabriella Crespi. A unique design with straight lines against gently formed curves at rounded ...

30382 New Dhurrie flat-weave Kilim rug with Modern Lake House style, custom area rug. ?Freshen up your space and inject color without going polychrom...

30383, new Dhurrie flat-weave Kilim rug with Modern Lake House style, Custom Area rug. Freshen up your space and inject color without going polychrom...

30384, new Dhurrie flat-weave Kilim rug with modern Lake House style. Freshen up your space and inject color without going polychrome crazy with this...

Simplistic dining chairs designed by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin. The gorgeous high back chrome frame is softened by the original inset panel of caning. Completely restored, the ...

Cerused oak chairs with original rush seats attributed to Maxime Old. A pair made in the 1940s.

Quite an attractive pair of 19th century French Louis XVI style barrel back neoclassical armchairs. The carved frames with rich wood tone is complementary to the worn tacked pinkish ...

18th century Spanish Colonial style Straw Work Truck with iron and bronze fittings.

A set of six dining chairs by Milo Baughman with cane backs. Newly upholstered in Holly Hunt Great Outdoors.

Asian inspired pair of "Marview" bamboo rattan cube form lounge chairs by McGuire San Francisco. Created in the California organic modern taste featuring a decorative open fretwork d...

Decorate a study or office with this elegant pair of vintage armchairs. Crafted in Provence, France, circa 1990, each chair stands on cabriole legs decorated with leaf motifs at the ...

The Brendan Bass Estate Collection is an homage to the beauty of vintage and antique pieces, each artfully concealing endless stories collected through the generations in which they...

Decorate a dining table with this elegant suite of antique oak side chairs. Crafted in France circa 1880, each dining chair stands on cabriole ...

Decorate a study or office with this elegant antique desk armchair. Crafted in Provence, France, circa 1870, the corner chair has an arched cane back decorated at the top with floral motif. The traditional desk chair...

In the Egyptian taste, a pair of white painted and parcel-gilt Thebes chairs. Resting on carved paw feet with caned seats. Late 20th century. An ...