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"Back in the 1940s and \u201950s, Van Day Truex was America\u2019s arbiter elegantiarum, a lanky, gray-suited genius who energized New York\u2019s Parsons School of Design and then gave Tiffany &amp;amp; Co. a modern makeover as its longtime design director. The tastemaker, who died in 1979, is the guiding light behind architect Scott Himmel\u2019s newly launched Truex American Furniture Co. &amp;quot;He was a suave figure at the center of the interior-design world,&amp;quot; the Chicago-based Himmel says. &amp;quot;Our collection is the story of a lost period in the timeline of 20th-century furniture that was influenced by one man\u2019s prophetic sense of style.&amp;quot;\n\nPartnering with Kindel Furniture Co., a 113-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan, firm, Himmel has produced 20 pieces, for starters, inspired by the designs of trendsetters in Truex\u2019s orbit, from decorator Billy Baldwin to furnituremaker Johan C. Tapp. &amp;quot;They were all traditionalists with a forward-looking point of view,&amp;quot; the architect observes, adding that his offerings, available to the trade only, aren\u2019t reproductions. &amp;quot;They\u2019re interpretations of mostly one-of-a-kind pieces.&amp;quot;\n\nPinterestFacebook\n\nWhile the Truex company is not the first to attempt a version of California designer Frances Elkins\u2019s \u201930s Loop chair, which she based on a Georgian antique, Himmel believes his incarnation is more delicate. The Heptagonal ottoman and curvaceous Dominique sofa are variations on seating Manhattan couturier Charles James created for the living room of art collectors Dominique and John de Menil in 1950. Another piece, the Pauline chaise longue, perches on silver-leafed legs, echoing a design aesthete Pauline de Rothschild conjured for her wine ch\u00E2teau\u2019s library several years later. And for the firm\u2019s take on an occasional table by James Mont, Kindel artisans replicated the original\u2019s unusual copper-and-silver camouflage-like finish.\n\nPinterestFacebook\n\n&amp;quot;Every piece in the Truex collection has a distinct personality,&amp;quot; Himmel proudly states. &amp;quot;They are not meant to go together\u2014but they do play well with others.&amp;quot; truexstyle.com\n\nPinterestFacebook"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/truex-american-furniture-co>