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| Title | ROWDY MEADOW: House, Land, Art | Posted in | Interior Design, Book | Release Date | October 12, 2021 |
Photography by Eric Piasecki.
Entrance Hall: A nickel and cast-glass chandelier by Todd Anderson centers the octagonal space. The black-and-white marble floor tiles are laid in a geometric pattern. X-form stools by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (ca. 1928) sit underneath the red Laguna marble–framed niches. The front door’s black steel grilles are ornamented with sunrise motifs and automotive gears.
Photography by Eric Piasecki.
Living room: Flanking the door are two Cibachrome prints by Mike Kelley, John Glenn and Bigfoot (2001). In the niche above is Mamma Andersson’s Hangman (2014). In the foreground, a rosewood, shagreen, and ebony table-bibliothèque tournante (ca. 1920) by Clément Rousseau is flanked by a pair of Jean Royère's Polar Bear chairs fabricated by August Studios.
Photography by Eric Piasecki.
Office: An Andr é Sornay ash desk and chair (1937) are paired with a Sornay table lamp (1935). Works by Michaël Borremans, Luc Tuymans, Frederick Sommer, Dan Fischer, Jay DeFeo, and Ikeda Manabu rest on the shelves behind.
Photography by Eric Piasecki.
Underpinned by the Czech Cubist affinity for polygons, prisms, facets and angular forms, the interiors are characterized by a crystalline aesthetic and sculptural flair. From the octagonal mosaic-clad foyer swathed in porphyry red and brilliant orange hues, to the double-height, oak-panelled library featuring a sculpted ceiling inspired by the Baroque-Gothic work of Czech architect Jan Santini Aichel, to the custom hand-painted silk wallpaper on the dining room’s walls, to the playful patterns of colourful Moroccan zellige tiles in the sun-porch inspired by the work of Austria Secession artist Koloman Moser and Austrian architect Joseph Urban, each room is a unique amalgam of creativity and inspiration, thoughtfully designed in dialogue with the artworks and furnishings on display.
Spread throughout the house, Mueller’s art collection focuses on contemporary art, with a gallery displaying some of the larger pieces, including Damien Hirst’s triptych Bringing Forth the Fruits of Righteousness from Darkness (2008) and Ai Weiwei’s Crystal Cube (2014), while his furniture and decorative arts collection spans the entire twentieth century from Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Arts and Crafts, to early and mid-century modernism, all the way through to contemporary design.
The house is complemented by an extensive sculpture park designed with the help of landscape architect Reed Hilderbrand, bringing together thirty-eight pieces that range widely in scale, material and content. Works on display include six site-specific installations by British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, such as Contour 950 (2016), a completely level path snaking through the woods and meadows like a ribbon on a topographic map, Anish Kapoor’s C-Curve (2007), a large, bowed stainless-steel panel, and Richard Serra’s five enormous totem-like steel plates named Rowdy Meadow Ridges (2018). All combined, the sculpture park, residence, bespoke interiors, and art and design collection, it becomes evident that Rowdy Meadows is a true Gesamtkunstwerk — a complete work of art.
Dining room: PPA Interior Design based the chairs on a design by Josef Gočár; the silk-and-wool rug was inspired by a Gabriel Moiselet painting. The Jean-Michel Frank table was created as part of a larger commission for the Borne family between 1935 and 1940. On the table are a pair of nickel-plated candelabra by Franz Hagenauer, vases by George Sakier (ca. 1930), and Ingeborg Lundin’s Apple vases, designed for Orrefors (ca. 1959). At the far end of the room hangs Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s photograph Upstate (2009)
Photography by Eric Piasecki.
Tribune: A jagged hand-blown cut-glass and cast-bronze light fixture by Thaddeus Wolfe (2015) descends from the faceted planes of the vaulted ceiling. Hung on the angled walls are Josef Engelhart’s pencil-and-watercolor sketches for his Merlinsage frieze (1904).
Photography by Eric Piasecki.
The walls of the screened porch are clad in green, burgundy, gray, and purple Moroccan zellige tiles in patterns inspired by the work of Koloman Moser and Joseph Urban.
Photography by Eric Piasecki.
Jacket design by Celia Fuller. Photography by Eric Piasecki.
