T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings

Robsjohn-Gibbings's work was characterized by a modern mixture of ancient Greek and Art Deco elements. As a result, his mass-produced designs, as well as those he made to order, would radically change the way home furnishings were designed. Browse the wide selection of original elegant T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings furniture for sale on Bidsquare auctions. 

As an architect and furniture designer, Terrance Harold Robsjohn Gibbings has been regarded as a classicist who questioned modernism by incorporating classical styles into design and furnishing while introducing fundamental changes to the industry as a result of collaborating with the present on a critical level. Among his best-known interiors was Hilda Weber's Casa Encantada in Bel-Air, California. From 1934 to 1938, Robsjohn-Gibbings produced a total of over 200 pieces to fill the interior, titled "Sans-Epoque," which means timeless. By including dolphins, lions' paw feet, sphinxes, and ionic columns in table bases and torchères, Robsjohn-Gibbings indulged his love of Greco-Roman design while maintaining a simple and elegant interior design.

Robsjohn-Gibbings rejected the lifeless and utilitarian designs of creators like Le Corbusier and Marcel Breuer, identifying himself with more natural artists like Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore as well as Frank Lloyd Wright. In contrast to the Bauhaus's austere aesthetic, Robsjohn-Gibbings created unique designs for manufacturer Widdicomb, for whom he served as a chief designer during the 1940s and 1950s.  His Gibby Lounge Chair (1946), for example, embodied the clean, painless American form into a modern aesthetic, as well as his biomorphic, tiered Mesa Coffee Table (1951), a sophisticated piece that blurs the line between design and art. 

Creating Klismos furniture, which has a strong classical influence, was the result of his meeting with Greek cabinetmakers Susan and Eleftherios Saridis in 1960. The classical Greek furniture he created was gracefully crafted in the manner of the 1930s post-Déco era and certainly did not resemble furniture from ancient Greece, yet its elegance was undeniable. The vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings still enjoy a great deal of popularity and are in high demand today. The designs of Robsjohn Gibbings are perfect if you love mid-century modern. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Modern Art in New York have collections of his elegant works. 

Interesting Facts about T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings:

• Gibby was the name by which his friends called T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings.
• An ancient Olynthus villa inspired his Madison Avenue showroom.
• The term Modern Americana was coined by him.