Ancient-looking vessels made of discarded plastic bottles by Shari Mendelson rest atop a 1950s Tommi Parzinger credenza, while Molly Hatchโs Aspire: After Meissen hangs above; Beyond the doorway is another Niamh Barry light sculpture, Walking
SET INTO MOTION: Merrill helped expose the light works of Dublin artist Niamh Barryโsuch as Unfolded, IRE from 2015โto American audiences.
OBJECT LESSONS OPPOSITE: Inventory includes 1980s Ron Seff chairs around a Karl Springer table, Milo Baughmanโs blue velvet armchair, and another Barry piece over a Springer coffee table and ottomans. ย Colleen Carlsonโs stoneware wall light; Marc Fishโs bronze and oak โOne Pieceโ console; another Hatch plate piece; A vignette features works by Fish, Hatch, Barry, as well as Beth Katleman mirrors and Merrillโs own โSwivel Throne.โ
Marc Fish, One Piece Series, UK , 2015
Colleen Carlson, Emerge Quad Wall Light Sculpture, USA, 2016,
Molly Hatch, Render Series, 2013
TODD MERRILL PROPELS ANTIQUE COLLECTING ALONG THE DESIGN CONTINUUM BY: ย JORGE S . ARANGO
“AS A KID I could tell you the difference between furniture by a cabinetmaker in New Hampshire and one in Vermont,โ says 52-year-old, third-generation antique dealer Todd Merrill. โI thought that was completely normal dinner conversation.โLater, as public relations director at Christieโs in the 1990s, he became frustrated that much of the American midcentury one-off designer furniture he was seeingโsignificant though he knew it wasโlacked historical documentation.โI realized there was an entire authentic period of furniture that had just been pushed aside onto the trash heap,โ he says, โwhich is literally where I pulled some of my first Paul Evans pieces.โ So in 2000 he opened his namesake gallery, specializing in American studio furniture from the 1920s through the 1990s by makers such as James Mont, the LaVerne’s, Karl Springer, Tommi Parzinger and Phillip Lloyd Powell. An instant success, Merrill was instrumental in reviving the careers of both Evans and Powell. Then, in 2005, he moved to a cavernous 4,000-square-foot TriBeCa space in a 1915 Louis Sullivan building. Merrill distinguishes his focus from craft studio-based furniture by Wendell Castle or Wharton Esherick in that his niche incorporates โa diversity of materials and finishes, and much of the work is historically inspired. Thereโs more refinement informed by more narrative and content.โ His book, Modern Americana (Rizzoli), first published in 2008, now offers scholarship on the period. A 10-year anniversary reissue will include 35 new pages of information. Merrill also just completed his second summer at his seasonal Southampton gallery, which concentrates on newer visual and furniture artists. The latter category, called Merrill Studio, had its origins in pieces Merrill commissioned from living designers like Powell. โWeโre now interested in the 21st-century,โ he says of international makers in โthat gray space between art and designโ such as Marc Fish, Erin Sullivan, Markus Haase, Molly Hatch, Sophie Coryndon, Shari Mendelson and Beth Katleman.
