Table by Wendell Castle / courtesy R 20th Century

Tom Felber for ceative face Magazine

This weekend creative face MAGAZINE starts with a series of presenting outstanding Design Galleries worldwide. During the next couple of weeks you will find portraits of Galleries with an international reputation. All of them are specialised on vintage and contemporary design. And some participate in Design Miami Basel, which starts beginning next week and will be again a Mecca for design lovers and collectors. Our series starts with R 20th Century from New York City.

R 20th Century specializes in an international selection of unique and well-crafted objects, lighting and furniture from the mid-century modern movement. Under the direction of its owners Zesty Meyers and Evan Snyderman R 20th Century is currently developing installations and publications on artists such as Wendell Castle, Poul Kjaerholm, Joaquim Tenreiro, Sergio Rodrigues, Greta Magnusson Grossman, Hugo França, and Jeff Zimmerman.

At DesignMiami/Basel 2008, R 20th Century will feature extremely rare and one-of-a-kind pieces from three luminaries of international 20th century design - Wendell Castle (USA), Poul Kjaerholm (Denmark) and Joaquim Tenreiro (Brazil) - as well as new work from contemporary Brazilian designer Hugo França. The pieces presented at Design Miami/Basel 2008 are from his newest body of work, which is also being showcased in the exhibition "Hugo França: The Story of the Tree", at R 20th Century in New York until June 14, 2008. Each of these four artists significantly contributed to and helped define their country's design landscape.

Wendell Castle was the first American designer to become a master sculptural wood worker and then turn the same techniques to his work in plastic in the late 1960s. His uniquely handcrafted vintage wood pieces represent his radical departure from traditional craft philosophy despite his adherence to fine craftsmanship. The hallmarks of Castle's style are exemplified in his 1975 stack laminated oval dining table in black lacquered wood, which combines superior woodworking skills with a new approach to the materials and a futuristic aesthetic. The table, a masterpiece of technique, form and beauty, is one of only three Castle created in black lacquer. His exquisite wood furniture shown in Basel - each unique piece made by Castle himself - represents a designer at the peak of his technical and formal power.

Poul Kjaerholm used the world-renowned Danish cabinet-making tradition as the formal inspiration and foundation for his exquisite work in modern materials such as leather, steel and marble. His furniture appeals to architects, design aficionados and serious furniture and art collectors for its understated elegance, clean lines and inspired rethinking of modernist iconography. Poul Kjaerholm's PK 32/2 sofa is an extremely rare high-backed version of the designer's iconic PK 31 seating in leather and steel, with only three known examples. This example comes from the private residence of E. Kold Christensen, the long-time maker of Kjaerholm's furniture, and features the original leather in excellent condition with a perfectly aged patina. The modular nature of the PK 31 series and other Kjaerholm designs represent his interest in creating furniture that would work equally well in any size room. This aspect of his work is part of what earned him the title ‘furniture architect' and differentiated him from other designers of his time.

Hugo França carries forward the legacy of legendary Brazilian designer Jose Zanine and international design greats such as George Nakashima and Alexander Noll exulting in the raw beauty of native hardwoods to create his distinctively massive, sculptural objects. The increasing scarcity of the reclaimed wood França uses makes these pieces even more relevant to Brazil and design history.

França's work is a perfect contemporary complement to the vintage work of pioneering Brazilian designer Joaquim Tenreiro, also on view at R 20th Century. While França exposes the raw beauty of exotic Brazilian hardwoods, Joaquim Tenreiro employs a masterful understanding of woodworking and of design history to create exquisitely detailed pieces that use traditional forms to create a distinctly Brazilian modernism. The so-called ‘father of Brazilian modernism' drew on the traditions and techniques of past furniture making to create a wholly new formal language for Brazilian furniture design. His exquisitely crafted pieces evoke a refined coexistence of traditional values and modern aesthetics, strongly bound to the Brazilian cultural milieu.