Inside the home of Denver’s most important mid-century-loving couple
As originally featured in the September 2010 issue of Wallpaper* (W*138)
![Jill Wiltse and Kirk Brown accompanied by Herman Miller, Robin Day, Roger Capron and Robert Stewart pieces](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cu9xuJhoGrUv69Lzrzjn3A-415-80.jpg)
It’s something of a surprise to learn that the biggest collection of work by British modernists Robin and Lucienne Day is owned by Americans. Surprising, because the Days never achieved the worldwide recognition that Charles and Ray Eames (to whom they are often compared) did. Even among Britons, they have a cult following rather than mainstream appeal. So why is it that so much of their work has ended up Stateside?
It’s down to Colorado couple H Kirk Brown III and his wife Jill A Wiltse, who began collecting Robin’s furniture and Lucienne’s textiles (128 pieces and counting) in 2003. ‘I first came across the Days in 1997 in a catalogue published by London’s Fine Art Society and Target Gallery,’ says Brown. ‘I fell in love with British modernism and began building a collection with the aid of both galleries.’ Wiltse, an entrepreneur like her husband (she set up a poop-a-scoop business, he owns oil wells), majored in fine art. When they married, their passion for collecting took off. Today they own more pieces by the Days than London’s V&A museum does. Annamarie Stapleton, a director at the Fine Art Society, says ‘Nobody has such a depth and breadth of material and in such good condition as Kirk and Jill.’
The couple’s apartment is in a block next to the new extension of the Denver Art Museum, both by Daniel Libeskind. Photography: Joe Fletcher
When, in 2006, the couple snapped up an apartment in a new block adjacent to the Denver Art Museum extension, both of which were designed by Daniel Libeskind, they realised they had found the perfect home for part of their vast collection. Their retro textiles, Bauhaus furniture and mid-century tableware sit comfortably in Libeskind’s challenging spaces, and the couple rotate them regularly. The contents of the apartment read like a Who’s Who of the best designers of the 1960s: the Eameses, Ernest Race, Roger Capron and Herbert Bayer. The pieces were bought at auctions or through galleries, and the couple talk like biographers when they speak about the designers they collect.
In Alice in Wonderland fashion, you can walk through the 1960s-inspired interior into the apartment next door, which they also own and have filled with Hungarian art from 1890-1956. ‘Kirk has always had the collector’s instinct,’ says Wiltse. ‘When I first met him, I found all these stickers inside cupboard doors, peeled off the fruits he had bought at New York’s Greek market.’ Brown interjects: ‘I had, at the time, also started collecting prints by Robert Motherwell and posters by artists involved in Roosevelt’s post-war Federal Arts Projects.’
The dining room features a framed print of Lucienne Day’s ‘Small Hours’, a Robin Day table and chairs, and a bespoke table (foreground) by Brown and Wiltse’s friend Michael McCoy. Photography: Joe Fletcher
Unlike many collectors, who prefer to operate in the shadows, Brown and Wiltse actively seek to put as much of their collection before the public as possible, while living with it on a day-to-day basis. When not on display, works are stored in one of their 14 climate-controlled storage units in Denver that total 3,000 sq ft. ‘These are already full. We need to get some more,’ says Brown. One day, they hope to bring all their treasures under one roof and open a gallery in the huge modernist house they also own in Denver.
We meet at the Textile Museum in Washington DC, for the opening of ‘Art by the Yard – Women Design Mid-Century Britain’, a show that only happened because of their efforts and which features works by Jacqueline Groag, Marion Mahler and Lucienne Day, all loaned from their collection. In their orbit are dealers and curators, architects, academics and film directors; all praise their enthusiasm and approachability. As their collection grows, so does their presence on various boards, such as those of the Museum of California Design and the American Hungarian Foundation.
From left, Wiltse’s 1950s-style wedding dress, made from Lucienne Day’s ‘Calyx’ fabric; ‘Flotilla’ print by Lucienne Day; a console by Robin Day; and a print by Jacqueline Groag. Photography: Joe Fletcher
Like all design party faithfuls, they attend Palm Springs’ Modernism Week. It was there, two years ago, that they had an epiphany. ‘Many of the architects and designers involved are getting on in years and we thought that we might want to memorialise them on film while they are still alive,’ says Wiltse. So they set up Design Onscreen, a production company that makes documentaries on the design world’s great and good. So far, they have funded films on US architects William Krisel and Donald Wexler, and Dutch designer Hella Jongerius.
‘We hope to build a portfolio of films and approach foundations for fundraising,’ says Brown, who at present pays for all Design Onscreen’s productions. ‘There are 90 names on our films-to-be-made list,’ adds Wiltse. Meanwhile, interest in the Days’ work is likely to rise even further this year, thanks largely to Brown and Wiltse, who are lending their collection to an exhibition that will tour the UK.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Emma O'Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in London. Her books include Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and she is currently working on a UK guide to wild saunas, due to be published in 2025.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
IM Pei's Everson Museum of Art gets a modern makeover
The East Wing of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY has been given a contemporary refresh by emerging Los Angeles studio MILLIØNS
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Black Modernism’s lesser-known, at-risk architecture gems gain a lifeline
Conserving Black Modernism announces vital funding to save and preserve overlooked and endangered buildings by African American architects and designers
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Step into the Blanton Museum of Art's reimagined public realm by Snøhetta in Austin
Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas is completed and reveals its reimagined public realm and plaza designed by Snøhetta
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This New York Townhouse renovation is a lesson in contemporary minimalism
TenBerke’s carefully considered New York townhouse is the reimagining of a century-old Manhattan structure that reframes vertical living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Visit The Frost House, a lesser-known modernist architecture marvel in Michigan City
The Frost House is a lesser-known midcentury architecture gem in Michigan City, Indiana; we took the tour as the property goes on the market
By Audrey Henderson Published
-
Broadway designer Scott Pask’s Arizona retreat is a scene-stealing discovery
Scott Pask invites us inside his Arizona retreat, nestled in the foothills overlooking Tucson – a place to reboot, recharge and commune with nature
By Michael Webb Published
-
Upstate New York retreat Ridge House evokes land art
Ridge House in upstate New York, the work of Brooklyn-based studio Worrell Yeung, is at one with the surrounding countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Rafael de Cárdenas’ first ground-up project is a forever home with waterfront views and hidden treasures
Rafael de Cárdenas reveals his latest completed project in the Pacific Northwest, a family home of calming spaces that bleed the outside in, and ten years in the making
By Ellie Stathaki Published