Robert Kuo Craftsman for the 21st Century
Friday, June 10, 2011
Biography Robert Kuo’s story bridges the gap between ancient Chinese and 20th century traditions. Born in Beijing, he moved with his family to Taiwan in 1947. Raised in an artistic environment, his father was an art professor and Chinese watercolor painter who started a cloisonné atelier where Robert Kuo became an apprentice at age fifteen. Although he never engaged in formal art studies, Kuo gained technical expertise and learned about decorative tradition from hands on training. He soon mastered the basics that would serve him throughout his artistic career. After visiting the United States in 1973, Kuo moved to California and opened his own cloisonné studio in Beverly Hills. Using the influences of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, Kuo introduced new shapes, finishes, and objects to cloisonné, and succeeded in cultivating a clientele that appreciated the way he made Chinese tradition accessible. It was during this time that the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery acquired his “Goldfish Bowl,” with its lively naturalism.
Friday, June 10, 2011
In 1984, he built the airy, contemporary building in West Hollywood, California that is still home to the Robert Kuo showroom. Located directly across from the Pacific Design Center in the West Hollywood Avenues of Arts & Design, the Kuo Gallery quickly became a favorite stop for designers seeking distinctive, decorative objects for their discerning clientele. By 1985, Kuo shifted his focus from working in cloisonnĂŠ to repoussĂŠ, the art of hammering decorative relief onto metal. Instead of applying enamel to a copper base, the artist began to experiment with applying different finishes to the hammered base. Kuo looked to China for artisans experienced in ancient techniques and trained craftsmen to adapt their skills to repoussĂŠ forms and objects. Inspired by his love of collecting Chinese antiquities, he found skilled artisans working with lacquer and Peking glass. He worked with these artisans to interpret his designs. Making these disappearing crafts relevant and contemporary. Friday, June 10, 2011
In 2008, Robert Kuo celebrated the opening of a 4,000 square foot Manhattan flagship gallery. Quietly theatrical and graciously expansive under 18-foot ceilings, the venue has a suitably museum-like quality. Kuo NYC offers a select assortment of fine Asian antique furnishings and objects he himself has curated to appeal to both interior designers and knowledgeable collectors. The venue also serves as a full-service resource for architects and designers interested in commissioning custom architectural elements: lacquer, repoussĂŠ, cloisonnĂŠ, and Peking glass provide limitless possibilities for murals, screens, focus walls, and other architectural elements for the interior landscape.
Friday, June 10, 2011
The work can be seen around the world, from the National History Museum in Taipei to exclusive hotels such as the Singapore Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo Grand Hyatt, Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Villas, Beijing Ritz Carlton, and New York’s Four Seasons. His work has been featured in the world’s leading lifestyle, design and architecture magazines. He has designed collections for the Kohler Interiors Group - McGuire Furniture, Baker Furniture and Ann Sacks Stone and Tile. In addition, Gump’s in San Francisco offers special pieces designed by Kuo, and holds an annual Kuo exhibition. Called “the imperial craftsman of the 21st century,” Robert Kuo reinterprets the past for the present and future and has an avid and enthusiastic base of collectors that await his new designs.
Friday, June 10, 2011
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