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.

May 7, 2021 - 00:51

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 contemporary art and design.

The home includes handcrafted details such as built-in cabinetry and shelving. The open-plan living space is anchored by a floor-to-ceiling stone inlay fireplace and framed by a warm wood paneled post-and-beam ceiling. Artwork on view: (foreground left to right): Gerald Luss, Sofa for The Gerald Luss House (c. 1950s); Frances Palmer, Terracotta Planter; two Not Yet Titled works by Alma Allen (2020) (2017); Gerald Luss, Coffee Table for The Gerald Luss House (c. 1950s), porcelain vases by Frances Palmer (2021); micaceous clay vessels by Johnny Ortiz (2021); Alma Allen bronze dish, Not Yet Titled (2019); Green River Project LLC, Aluminum and Leather Lounge Ch air (2021); (background left to right): Ritsue Mishima, Seed Crystal (2017), Fonte (2020), Arca (2012); Gerald Luss, Untitled (2020); two Untitled (2021) works by Yoichi Shiraishi; Cecily Brown, Reasons to be Cheerful (2020 - 2021).

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.

Designed in 1955 by Gerald Luss, The Luss House located in Ossining, a commutable suburb of New York City, is the site of "At he Luss House — 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."