Philip Johnson’s Desk at the Glass House

Philip Johnson's Desk at the Glass House. Photo by Henry Eschricht.

Did you know that The Philip Johnson Glass House is on Flickr? Today we’re highlighting some of the great images visitors have shared with us over the past year via our Philip Johnson Glass House Flickr Pool. If you have any photos or sketches from your visit that you would like to share, we invite you to join our group. This great photo, and many others, were contributed by photographer Henry Eschricht, a student at New Canaan High School who toured the Glass House in October of 2010.

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Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, Flickr, Glass House

Winter at The Glass House

 

Da Monsta at The Philip Johnson Glass House, winter 2010. (Image via http://www.facebook.com/PJGlassHouse)

The Philip Johnson Glass House site is closed to visitors for the winter, so we’re sharing a few photos of what the grounds look like after a snowstorm: The Glass House in The Snow

 

 

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, Da Monsta, Glass House

Lazy days of summer, Schnabel style

Ozymandias by Julian Schnabel

New Yorkers relaxing under a tree, enjoying the summer sun. In this case, the tree is Julian Schnabel’s cast bronze sculpture, Ozymandias, 1986-1989, which was exhibited on the plaza of the Seagram Building in the summer of 1990.  

Jim Dine of the NYT covered the exhibition in Review/Art; The State of the City as Sculptors See It (July 1990). He wrote: “Julian Schnabel has a large outdoor sculpture in front of the Seagram Building, and it’s not bad. It is called ‘Ozymandias,’ after the Shelley poem about the vanity of power. It consists essentially of a large log that the artist found on a Bridgehampton beach, took home with him, carved, cast in bronze and painted white. There is a face in the wood looking upward. The sculpture has the feeling of a totem that has collapsed, or of a solitary figure or a natural force that is now lying in state amid the surrounding walls of skyscrapers.”

Dine alludes to Percy Bysshe Shelley’s (1792 – 1822) sonnet published in 1818 (see full text below). It is probably Shelley’s most famous short poem.

Julian Schnabel and guest next to his sculpture, Ozymandias photo: Claire Hunter

 

 TodayOzymandias permanently resides at the Philip Johnson Glass House outside the Sculpture Gallery and is viewed by visitors from around the world. Last January, Julian Schnabel visited the Glass House and viewed his works on display, including Ozymandias.

For more photos from the Schnabel Glass House visit, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ozymandias 

 I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Text of the poem from Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1819). Rosalind and Helen, a modern eclogue, with other poems.. London: C. and J. Ollier.

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, julian schnabel, ozymandias, Philip Johnson, Philip Johnson Glass House, Seagram Building

People who live in Glass Houses…

PHOTO: Meri Erickson

People who live in Glass Houses use a lot of windex. Each week the great expanses of glass which make up the exterior walls of the Philip Johnson Glass House are cleaned to provide a transparent division between the interior of the house and the elements. So transparent in fact, birds frequently fly into the glass. Several years ago, wild turkeys flew into a large pane on the east side of the house, shattering  the non-tempered glass throughout the kitchen. Little by little, the original curtain walls are being replaced with high tech, energy efficient panes.

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, Glass House, Philip Johnson, Philip Johnson Glass House

A dot on the horizon

PHOTO: Amy Rippe

If you stand in the  Philip Johnson Glass House and look westward out over the carefully designed landscape, you might spot a tiny pink dot on the horizon. This  Lutyens bench, inspired by the designs of renowned English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, provided Philip with a welcome resting place during his daily hikes through the 47-acre site. Philip had the bench painted a pinkish-orange hue selected by the well-known colorist Donald Kaufman, to provide a striking contrast to the surrounding earth tones.

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, Donald Kaufman, Philip Johnson Glass House, Sir Edwin Lutyens

From Kabul to New Canaan

by Meri Erickson

HE Zahir Tanin, Mrs. Tanin, Andrea and John Mathewson amongst the Andrew Lord ceramics in the Sculpture Gallery.

It had been a particularily busy week at the UN. On Friday,  His Excellency Ambassador Zahir Tanin, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations, was elected to serve as one of the Vice Presidents of the 65th General Assembly.  So on the weekend, the Ambassador and his wife headed to Connecticut for a little rest and relaxation and topping  the agenda was a tour of the Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan. Ambassador Tanin has always been interested in architecture, according to friends and Westport residents Andrea and John Matthewson. As the group made their way from the Glass House, to the Painting and Sculpture Galleries, the Ambassador took a call or two from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, but was able to put work aside long enough to thoroughly enjoy the tranquility of the 47-acre site.

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, Afghanistan, Glass House, Philip Johnson, President Hamid Karzai, United Nations, Zahir Tanin

A dog’s life: At home in the Glass House

Photo by Meri Erickson

Before the Philip Johnson Glass House  opened to the public in 2007,  James made himself at home on the 47-acre site. The 13-year old Keeshond, and his sister, Alice were David Whitney’s companions. Philip never liked the dogs, in fact he gave them away at one point, but returned them upon David’s insistence. In 2003, the dogs were roaming Ponus Ridge Road just in front of  the Glass House main gate and were struck by a hit-and-run driver. Alice lay dead in the road and James suffered serious injuries. He recovered fully and has live a full life, although some say he has become more cantankerous in his old age. Today, James still lives on the property in Calluna Farms, David Whitney’s former residence.

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, James The Glass House Philip Johnson Keeshond

April showers bring May flowers

Photo: Claire Hunter

By Meri Erickson

When the colorful patchwork quilt of tulips is in full bloom at the Philip Johnson Glass House, you know spring is really here.  But you have to enjoy them while you can, they don’t last long. Philip Johnson’s partner David Whitney was a passionate gardener and spent much of his time enjoying the meticulously maintained flower beds located throughout the 47-acre landscape.  Today, the tulip garden, surrounded by a 6’ high deer fence, is pink, yellow, white, purple and red. However, the original garden had more than 1,000 tulip bulbs—most of which were black.

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week, David Whitney, Glass House, New Canaan, Philip Johnson

POTW: A Conversation with Cliff Pearson

Moderator, Cliff Pearson of Architectural Record

Glass House Conversations

Scientists, engineers, architects, artists and business and cultural leaders reflected on “transparency” as material and as metaphor in a Glass House Conversation led by Cliff Pearson.  How has glass evolved as a material since the modernists first used it widely in the early 20th century?  How is “transparency” a metaphor for leadership across society?  How is it used for illusion and for power? Read more.

Video Interview

Transparency on Vimeo.

Filed under: Glass House Photo of the Week