Oklahoma Tour
Philbrook Museum of Art
“Villa Philbrook”
Architect Charles Buehler
Delk (1927)
2727 South Rockford Road
Tulsa, OK 74152-0510
918-749-7941
In 1927 an Italianate mansion was built in residential Tulsa for Oklahoma oil giant Waite Phillips and his wife Genevieve. Called Villa Philbrook, the Phillips’ grand residence and fine collection of furnishings and works of art have served the Tulsa community as the Philbrook Museum of Art since 1938.
Working closely with Villa Philbrook architect, Charles Buehler Delk, the Phillips’ interior design firm, French & Co. of New York City brought Oscar Bach onto the project to design a door in the telephone alcove and a pair of railings in the great hall. The telephone alcove door is no longer in existence but the beautiful bronze railings flanking the central stairs in the great hall are still in place. The city of Tulsa is a veritable goldmine of Art Deco design and these Chiparusesque dancing figures surrounded by palmettes speak directly to the chic tastes of late 1920s Tulsa society.
Click below to see the
bronze railings designed by Oscar Bach for Villa Philbrook.
View of great hall
Overall view of right railing in great hall
Detail of left panel
Detail of central panel
Detail of right panel
Friends of Oscar Bach wish to thank Mr. John West of Bartlesville, Oklahoma for his assistance in bringing the Philbrook commission to our attention and Mr. Thomas E. Young of the Philbrook Museum of Art for his gracious help in providing the above information.
To learn more about the Philbrook Museum of Art, please visit their website at www.philbrook.org.