IN REMEMBRANCE
REMEMBERING
RIC EMMETT
S
ince the first days of Art Deco Weekend
when there was a show and sale at
Washington Storage (now the FIU
Wolfsonian Museum), Ric Emmett supported
the efforts of the Miami Design Preservation
League by being an active participant in the
events of Art Deco
Weekend.
Later, through his
Modernism Gallery,
he loaned some great
Art Deco furniture to
the MDPL’s Museum
and held several talks
on Art Deco in general
and American Art
Deco in particular
at the MDPL, having
published his first major
book on the subject in
January 2015.
Ric was one of the
pioneers in promoting
Art Deco in the
community, his first
store which was named
“20th Century” was on
the 71st Str. Causeway
in 1979-1981. Looking
for more space to expand the gallery, he
opened Gemini Galleries in Hialeah, where
the set designers of Miami Vice came to obtain
furniture and objects for the now famous series
that featured Miami Beach and its Art Deco
splendor. In 1989 Modernism Gallery was
opened in Coral Gables and became one of
the premier galleries in Miami devoted to Art
Deco where many members of the community
met to discuss and learn about the subject.
One of the founding members of the Coral
Gables First Friday Gallery Night, he used the
opportunity of the large crowds that came to
the events to continue teaching about the items
in the gallery. In 1995, Modernism Gallery
was the first gallery to go “online” with its
website, MODERNISM.COM. The website is
now a portal for other dealers selling 20th and
21st Century design.
In 2010 Ric began
writing his book,
American Art Deco
Furniture and Lighting.
Four years later, after
massive research
which took him all over
the United States, the
book was revised to
be American Art Deco
Furniture which was
published in a limited
edition of 1,000 books
and was introduced
with a talk and book
signing at last year’s
Art Deco Weekend.
The American Art
Deco Lighting book is
in the process of being
completed by his wife,
Iza Emmett, and should
be ready to publish by the end of this year. His
legacy lives on as the book is in the libraries
of the Cooper Hewitt and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute in
Chicago, the Kirkland in Denver, the University
of Miami School of Architecture and has been
critically acclaimed as the “bible” on American
Art Deco Furniture.
Ric Emmett passed away on April 7, 2015.
He is remembered for his enthusiasm, his love
of learning and then sharing what he learned
and his great laugh.
THE ART OF ARCHITECTURE
77