‘I had the honor of working with Florence Knoll Bassett’

The death of Florence Knoll Bassett, even at 101 years old, is a sad event for me as I remember the many years of our design relationship, working on numerous projects.

My company represented a diverse range of European producers of decorative tile and architectural hard surface materials, like marble, granite and travertine.

Working closely with architects and designers, I was well aware of Florence Knoll, who came to Miami to design The First National Bank building. She later married its president, Harry Hood Bassett.

One day, in my office, I received a call from a woman who said, “This is Florence Knoll,” and I said, “How are you, Mrs. Bassett?” She asked me to visit her to discuss the decorative ceramic panels from Italy that we advertised in Interiors Magazine.

On arrival, Mrs. Bassett took me through her home, stopping in front of a large, 8-foot square geometric painting, a Vasarely, who I later learned was a founder of optical art, or “Op Art.”

Several months later, I was in conversation with him at his atelier in Paris about using his forms and colors on ceramic tile for baths.

I worked with Mrs. Bassett on panels and signage for her husband’s banks, in a small room off the master bedroom. Often, while I worked late into the afternoon, Hood would arrive home and we would all have drinks! He had asked me to call him “Hood” and I always called Florence, “Mrs. Bassett.” After a few months, she called me “Joe.”

One day, she mentioned that Hood had a new barber, and I should try him. The barber, not yet with a shop, cut my hair in my home at the dining room table. Michael Curran still cuts my hair, more than 40 years later.

Working with Mrs. Bassett, a hugely talented international designer, yet so human, was one of the most satisfying experiences in my professional life.