The Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee is home to a major collection of work by Cyril Colnik, an Austrian-born artist who worked in Milwaukee from 1893 until his death in 1958. Colnik is best known for the intricate wrought iron gates and architectural ornaments he made to decorate the mansions of Milwaukee’s elite, but he also made smaller household goods, like candlesticks and doorknobs, in cast and wrought iron and cast brass. Last week I worked with Villa Terrace curator Laurel Turner to photograph several dozen examples of Colnik’s work, including his wrought iron “Masterpiece,” which won a blue ribbon at the 1893 World’s Columbian exposition (detail below).
Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.
2 responses so far ↓
Zahn // July 4, 2008 at 4:29 pm |
I’ve been fascinated by the piece called Colnik’s masterpiece since I first saw a grainy photo if it years ago. The close up the detail is the clearest I’ve ever been able to see the work. I would love to see a good high-resolution photo of the entire piece .
Revisiting the Charles Allis & Villa Terrace Museums « Wisconsin Object // March 14, 2009 at 12:34 pm |
[...] my previous blog posts on Cyril Colnik here and [...]