"Modern Gothic: The Inventive Furniture of Kimbel and Cabus, 1863-82 traces the timeless American immigrant success story of Anton Kimbel and Joseph Cabus. The enterprising New York City design team pioneered an inventive take on Modern Gothic furniture of near-infinite variety, for a broad range of customers, and defined a significant aesthetic in the United States. The Brooklyn Museum, which retains the largest institutional holdings of Kimbel and Cabus's work, is the first to tell their story with newscholarship and fresh insight into this important yet little-explored partnership. A fully illustrated catalogue co-published with Hirmer Press will accompany the exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum that will be on view July 2, 2021-February 13, 2022 . Thepublication is co-authored by Barbara Veith, Guest Curator, Brooklyn Museum, and Medill Higgins Harvey, Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts and Manager, Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, with additional contributions by Max Donnelly, Curator of Nineteenth-Century Furniture, Victoria and Albert Museum; Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Curator of American Decorative Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Dr. Melitta Jonas, Kunsthistorikerin, Berlin"--
Kimbel and Cabus were among the most progressive design reformers of their time. Modern Gothic is the first publication to explore the timeless American immigrant success story of the trailblazing New York City design team who captured national attention with their imaginative furniture forms and defined a significant aesthetic in the United States.
Kimbel and Cabus produced an amazing variety of modern gothic furniture and worked in a panoply of styles to satisfy the broadest range of markets. They also produced one of the first photographic catalogues for use as a selling tool. Their remarkable story is painstakingly reconstructed using primary sources to illuminate the importance of this progressive company as illustrated through period documents including advertisements, city directories, census and credit reports, and other printed materials alongside new photography.
Kimbel and Cabus were among the most progressive design reformers of their time. Modern Gothic is the first publication to explore the timeless American immigrant success story of the trailblazing New York City design team who captured national attention with their imaginative furniture forms and defined a significant aesthetic in the United States.
Kimbel and Cabus produced an amazing variety of modern gothic furniture and worked in a panoply of styles to satisfy the broadest range of markets. They also produced one of the first photographic catalogues for use as a selling tool. Their remarkable story is painstakingly reconstructed using primary sources to illuminate the importance of this progressive company as illustrated through period documents including advertisements, city directories, census and credit reports, and other printed materials alongside new photography.
