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Exhibitions

Made to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces The Eugene & Clare Thaw Gift
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Made to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces The Eugene & Clare Thaw Gift

Made to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces
The Eugene & Clare Thaw Gift

On view October 13,2006–June 3, 2007

The fifth exhibition in the Nancy and Edwin Marks Gallery will present the Eugene Thaw collection of staircase models, which is the largest known collection of these works outside of France. The models, the majority of them from 19th-century France, represented exercises in technical virtuosity, demanding knowledge of cantilevering, balance, forms of rotation, styles of balusters and other architectural details. In their combination of design, structural, architectural and cabinetry skills, the staircase models and accompanying drawings demonstrate the relationship between formal training, modeling, technical mastery and flights of creative fancy.

Made to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces is made possible in part by the Getty Foundation.

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