Florence Knoll saw the selection of art as a crucial part of her job. In 1964, she wrote, “The interior designer’s work includes programming, space planning, relation of design to mechanical equipment, selection of materials and color, furniture design and placement and, finally, a selection of art objects and accessories.” While mentioned last, Florence did not see art as the finishing touch. Rather, artwork was an integral part of her overall design, planned concurrently with architecture, furniture, materials and color to shape the total experience of space.

In describing her design for the first Knoll showroom at 601 Madison Avenue in New York City, Florence wrote, “I initiated the use of real flowers and plants and original art.” The result was a harmonious, humanized space unlike any other furniture retailer at the time. “In those days, most furniture showrooms were like a warehouse … no style, just a whole lot of furniture in rows,” said designer Richard Schultz. “At Knoll, you felt like you were at home.”

The exhibition is in the Bruce sculpture gallery, which is a small space with a large wall of windows overlooking a grove of trees. Just as Florence designed Knoll showrooms to create harmony between architecture, art, and design, Sullivan took the same approach here, carefully considering how each sculpture is integrated into the environment. “The vast majority of Bertoia’s work was done for domestic spaces,” she says, “which made this space perfect because it’s closer to the scale of the rooms for which these pieces were designed.” Bertoia excelled at creating pieces for specific spaces in a way that makes them feel as if they’ve always been there. They become one with the overall environment.

“Bertoia didn’t title his pieces,” explains Sullivan. “He wanted the viewer to see whatever they see without any sort of framing. They’re completely abstract, and yet you make all these associations to the natural world. They have this aura around them, they radiate, and they change the space around them.”