Join us in NYSID’s gallery at 170 E. 70th St. for curators Donald Albrecht and Thomas Mellins’ perspective on “Designing Duo: Tom Lee & Sarah Tomerlin Lee” , a multi-media exhibition celebrating Tom Lee (1910-1971) and Sarah Tomerlin Lee (1910-2001). Husband and wife for more than three decades, the Lees left a distinctive mark on 20th century American design. He worked as a theater designer, a department store display director, and chiefly an interior designer, and she was a magazine editor, a department store executive, an advertising copywriter, and ultimately a renowned interior designer. But they were more than simply successful individuals; a designing duo, they sometimes shared clients and, more significantly, shared expertise, experience, and perspectives to profoundly influence each other. This synergy was vividly manifest at the time of Tom’s death at the age of 61, when Sarah seamlessly took over his firm and went on to design more than 40 hotel interiors until she retired, shortly before her death at the age of 90.
As influential tastemakers, the Lees promoted a sophisticated blend of traditional and contemporary aesthetics—by turns decorative and minimalist—which Sarah called “romantic modernism.” Underlying their work was a belief that architecture and design were essentially forms of storytelling influenced by literature, theater, and art. At the same time, their work powerfully reflected larger social and cultural forces, from the advance of middle-class consumer culture to the rise of women in the workplace. They used design as an agent of American diplomacy during the Cold War, positioned American fashion on the international stage, and helped make historic preservation an indispensable economic engine of urban redevelopment.
The majority of the objects in this exhibition are drawn from the New York School of Interior Design Archives and Special Collections, unless otherwise noted. The archives’ holdings underscore that the Lees’ work was at once international in scope and a quintessential New York story.
This exhibition was curated by Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht in collaboration with Research Associate Anne Regan. The Curators would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions and insights of Julie Sandy, NYSID Librarian/Archivist, as well as the participation of Billy Kwan, NYSID Director of the Library and Archives, Don Kossar, and the NYSID Faculty. NYSID and the curatorial team are especially grateful to the sons of Sarah Tomerlin Lee and Tom Lee, Charles and Todd, for their collaboration and guidance throughout the development of this project.
Sponsored by Benjamin Moore & Co.. Exhibition and graphic design by Darling Green
About the Curators:
Donald Albrecht has curated exhibitions that have ranged from overviews of cultural trends, including World War II and the American Dream and Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design for the National Building Museum, the National Design Triennial for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and Gay Gotham: Art and Underground Culture in New York for the Museum of the City of New York, to profiles of individual design firms and artists—The Work of Charles and Ray Eames for the Library of Congress and Vitra Design Museum, Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future for the Finnish Cultural Institute, the Museum of Finnish Architecture, and the National Building Museum, and The High Style of Dorothy Draper for the Museum of the City of New York. Mr. Albrecht lectures frequently about architecture and design. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome.
Thomas Mellins is an exhibition curator and author. Mr. Mellins co-curated "Mexico Modern: Art, Commerce, and Cultural Exchange," at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, "Affordable New York: A Housing Legacy," for the Museum of the City of New York and "Open to the Public: Civic Space Now" at the Center for Architecture in New York; "Dave Brubeck: Jazz Ambassador" at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall; and "A Home for Dance: New York City Ballet and the David H. Koch Theater." "Doris Duke's Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape, and Islamic Art," which Mr. Mellins co-curated with Donald Albrecht, opened at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and completed a seven-city national tour. Mr. Mellins collaborated on "Remarkable Works, Remarkable Times," at the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California, and Mr. Mellins curated "The Edgeless School: Design for Learning" at the Center for Architecture. Mr. Mellins's exhibition for the New York Public Library, "Celebrating 100 Years,” attracted over 800,000 visitors to become the most heavily attended show in the library’s history. Mr. Mellins is the co-author, with Robert A.M. Stern and others, of three volumes in an award-winning book series on the architecture and urbanism of New York City: New York 1880, New York 1930, and New York 1960. In 1999 Mr. Mellins was designated a Centennial Historian of New York City.
Register to attend: Gallery Talk
Expanded Exhibition at: https://www.nysid.edu/exhibitions/designing-duo
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and ID required for entry to all NYSID facilities.