David Gill: Designing Art

By initiating visionary collaborations with some of the best artists and designers in modern history, David Gill has, as Meredith Etherington-Smith writes in her introductory essay, ‘almost singlehandedly created the increasingly important field where contemporary fine art morphs into design editions’.

The first part of this volume charts Gill’s legacy through the evolution of three gallery periods, from the first David Gill Gallery in Chelsea to its current position in St James’s. Art history is interwoven into the narrative, illustrating the cultural and artistic climates of each period. This offers a comprehensive narrative of Gill’s career, but significantly it also brings to the fore the careers of art and design luminaries with whom he has developed relationships. These latter are also addressed in a dedicated section that includes the Campana brothers, David Chipperfield, Mattia Bonetti, Zaha Hadid and others.

However, text aside, the visual feast of interiors (including Gill’s private homes), rarely seen photos, illustrations by Pierre Le-Tan, concept drawings and hundreds of design-art pieces is reason enough to make this book required reading for any design enthusiast.