© 1996 by Liz O¹Brien Inc. 48 pages. Catalog accompanying the 1996 Furniture and Decoration exhibit, with 39 black and white photographs featuring architect and designer Samuel Marx, his interior settings, and his furniture designs. Includes an essay on his life and career, as well as a list of important commissions.
Cost: $45.
Excerpt:
"To visit the apartment of Sam and Florene Marx was a unique experience even for one who had been inspecting private collections of modern art with more or less professional scrutiny for over forty years . . . Everywhere, in the vitrines, on shelves, pedestals and table tops, in corners were things to look at -- objects superbly chosen with knowledge and discrimination. Sam Marx was an architect and a distinguished designer of interiors but his apartment did not at all suffer from the cautious restraint of conventional good taste. Variety, a spirit of enthusiasm and rich profusion were there; profusion, yes, but magically, without clutter."
Alfred H. Barr, Jr. wrote these words on the occasion of the exhibition of Samuel and Florene May Marx's collection at The Museum of Modern Art in 1965. More than an apt description of the Marx residence, it reveals the ultimate unity and purpose of Samuel Marx's life work as an architect, designer and connoisseur of fine art. Until recent years, Marx was perhaps better known for his fine paintings collection than for his own extraordinary furniture and interior designs. Upon closer consideration, it becomes clear that these pursuits were guided by the same rigorous standards of quality and aesthetics. His work reflects a finely integrated point of view in which intellect, beauty and pleasure became significant facts of daily life.