A One-Off Art Exhibition Provides a Glimpse Inside an Unsung Midcentury in New York
Architect Gerald Luss, who designed the interiors of the Time & Life Building, is granting visitors access to his 1955 residence with a curated display of art and design.
Architect Gerald Luss, who designed the interiors of the Time & Life Building, is granting visitors access to his 1955 residence with a curated display of contemporary art and design.
While designing the interiors of one of New York City’s most iconic midcentury skyscrapers—a building thrust into popular culture via AMC’s hit series Mad Men—architect Gerald Luss was living at his family home in the village of Ossining along the Hudson River. The glass-and-steel dwelling, Luss’s first stand-alone design, hosted planning meetings for the Time & Life Building, and the two structures even share a few design elements: an indoor/outdoor connection, a material palette of glass and steel, and colored panels that, in the office, could be rearranged to create flexible partitions; in the home, hallway cabinetry recalls that moment of innovation.
Gerald Luss’s 1955 family residence in Ossining, New York, is the site of At the Luss House, a collaborative exhibit of contemporary art.
Photo by Michael Biondo
Starting May 7, visitors can get an in-person glimpse of the architect’s unsung home, which will be the backdrop of At the Luss House, an exhibition of art and design hosted in collaboration by galleries Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Following an exhibition held by the galleries last fall at the Eliot Noyes house in New Canaan, Connecticut, the Luss House exhibit similarly uses an architect’s home to pair "today’s artistic ideas with those of past eras," say the galleries.
At 94 years old, Luss remains a champion of new design. "In my own life," he says, "I find it is essential not only to create new work, but to also live among the objects and work of other artists, expanding my vision of the world."
Built from prefabricated components, the home sits lightly within its sylvan surroundings. Luss is said to have lived for nearly a year in a tree house on the property to better understand the site before building the house.
Photo by Michael Biondo
Self-taught artist Alma Allen’s "Not Yet Titled" (2019) is complemented by the clean midcentury lines of Luss’s residence.
Photo by Michael Biondo
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