Named after our founder's home built in 1916, our Villa Clare collection captures the home's style and grandeur with hand–carved details, marble accents, curved fronts and antiqued brass hardware. Book–matched ash burl and pecan veneers are aged with a multi–step brown finish to give each piece a historic presence. All the smoothly finished drawers open with wood–on–wood guides and are crafted with dust–proofing and English dovetail joinery. The bottom drawers have removable cedar panels. Fine craftsmanship includes rubberwood solids and corner blocks. Armoire can hold most 42" flat screen TV's. (Ad Copy of Haverty's Furniture)
J.J. Haverty (1858-1939) was the founder of Haverty Furniture Co., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the most notable art collector in the Southeast United States in his day with an eye for American Impressionist and Realist paintings, including work by Childe Hassam, Maria Turner, Albert P. Ryder, Jonas Lie and Henry O. Tanner. During the 1920's, he was a major supporter of New York's Grand Central Art Galleries, and he organized a series of successful exhibitions of American art at the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel. These events lead to the creation of Atlanta's High Museum of Art. Many Haverty collection paintings were donated posthumously to the High and remain in the museum's permanent collection. The son of Irish immigrants, Haverty also was a devout Catholic who was named a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Pius XI and helped found the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. The book entitled "Villa Clare: The Purposeful Life and Timeless Art Collection of J.J. Haverty" by Haverty's great grandson, William Rawson Smith, and published by Mercer University Press tells the self made retailer's story and describes his many contributions to the arts, religion and business. J. J. Haverty's grandson, Rawson Haverty, has written "Ain't the Roses Sweet", a self-published book about the Haverty family and the furniture company.
Villa Clare: The Purposeful Life and Timeless Art Collection of J.J. Haverty"
Before there was Atlanta’s High Museum of Art there was Villa Clare-J.J. Haverty’s Mediterranean style home on Peachtree Street. During the heyday of Villa Clare in the 1920's and 1930's (the Shepherd Spinal Clinic is located there today), Haverty regularly opened the doors on Sunday afternoons to invite the public to enjoy his collection of more than 100 museum-quality paintings and sculptures by mostly American artists including Childe Hassam, William Merritt Chase, Helen Maria Turner and Henry O. Tanner, a renowned African-American painter who lived in exile in France. Haverty’s open house tradition was just part of the self-taught collector's bold plan to establish Atlanta as an artistic and cultural destination. And his efforts proved remarkably successful. As a way to build momentum for the arts in a city traditionally preoccupied with commercial progress, Haverty in 1924 and 1925 teamed up with the Grand Central Galleries in New York to organize exhibitions at Atlanta’s Biltmore Hotel. These events not only attracted huge crowds, but they raised public awareness about Atlanta’s lack of a permanent museum. In 1926, Mrs. J.M. High agreed to donate her home as Atlanta's first museum, and later much of the Villa Clare collection was donated to the fledgling High Museum of Art. A devoutly religious man who never graduated high school, Haverty left a legacy far beyond the arts. In addition to founding the Haverty Furniture Co. in 1885, he was involved in the ill-fated project to carve a Confederate memorial on Stone Mountain. He also helped to build the Cathedral of Christ the King in Buckhead. As a young man, he was a first hand witness to pivotal events in Atlanta history, including priest Thomas O’Reilly’s heroic efforts to save the city’s downtown churches (Haverty served as his alter boy). In telling the previously unpublished story of J.J. Haverty and his art collection, Villa Clare provides a unique new perspective on the story of early Atlanta.
Links:
High Museum Of Art
Havertys FurnitureSource: Internet
Source: Internet
