The Wick and The Stick

Today, quick detour from our usual housing news to highlight an interesting exhibition taking place here on Staten Island, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden.

George Way, whom we have featured here before, has mounted another exhibition, this time focused on early lighting pieces from the Renaissance to the Victorian era. The pieces, drawn from his extensive collection of antique furniture and from the Jonathan Z. Friedman, Esq. Collection, are displayed with paintings, etchings and other decorative arts pieces that explore the crucial role candlelight played in daily life and how it was used for metaphorical ends by artists.

Mr. Way, an affable gentleman who is often on hand at the exhibition to answer questions, has quietly amassed a collection that is one of the largest privately held antique furniture collections in America, all on a deli counter worker income. His pieces are often comparable or better than those at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and even the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Mr. Way has lent many to museums around the country, but is working on giving his collection a permanent home here on Staten Island.

For more information on the exhibition, which is running now till May of 2011, visit the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden website.

Sphere: Related Content