Really I had no inkling what the museum was about. Didn't know it was part of the Smithsonian. Wasn't sure what "design" meant. I did know that the museum was housed in Carnegie's old residence on Fifth Avenue. That was enough to get me on a subway uptown to have a look at another legend's not so humble turn-of-the-century abode.
I arrived on Mr. Carnegie's doorstop on a windy March day. I had read about the wonderful gardens on the property in my NYC gardens book, but there was very little growing there yet.
So back along the side street of the building I went where the front entrance gleamed like a theater marquis. This was no quiet entrance of a lonely recluse: clearly the Carnegie's expected many an honored guest to visit them at home.
Finally I walked by the billboard on the iron fence and saw which exhibits were currently on view. The main exhibit was Rococo decorative arts. I have to admit that I was a neophyte about the art and the era. But here was a golden opportunity to have a taste of history and art together in an architectural masterpiece. Priceless.
Inside the building was stunning: heavy, rich woods paneled the walls, floors and even the formal staircase. It was a perfect setting for an interior design exhibit- the walls themselves resembled handcarved furniture. Some rooms were so beautiful I looked at the walls first, followed only afterward by the art shown there.
And the art pieces themselves lush and extensive. I loved it. Silver and porcelain servingware, heavy wooden side tables, gold-plated candelabras and grillworks. A video of Nancy, France built entirely on the rococo design. Chairs, mirror frames, jewelry from England, France, the Netherlands and Germany. It seems rococo started in France and bled out rapidly into the surrounding countries. Rococo was all the rage.
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