President Obama brought a tear to many an eye this week when he praised the popular talk show host Ellen DeGeneres for her influence on the gay rights movement, saying that she was "full of kindness and light" while awarding the perky comedian the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But Ellen can also add another title to her CV: curator. DeGeneres has chosen 50 items from the 210,000-strong collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York for the latest instalment of the museum’s ongoing exhibition series “Selects”. DeGeneres has some serious design and decorative art chops, and timeless taste: the range of pieces she has chosen for Ellen DeGeneres: Selects (until 21 May 2017) includes an Egyptian votive box, Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Egg chair and ottoman (1958), plates by Pablo Picasso, an African mask and a pinewood stool designed by Charlotte Perriand (1965). Curious Ellen mega-fans can get a peek into her own home, as she has loaned some pieces from her own collection, such as lamps she snapped up at a flea market in Paris. “This exhibition represents all the qualities I love and cultivate in my own home”, DeGeneres says in a statement, “and I hope it sparks visitors’ own creativity”.
