Well, here are pics of nearly a dozen of them. When you see this many all at once, it becomes apparent just how revolutionary they really were.
]]>Don't miss the pic of one of his most famous collaborations.
]]>
Well, here are pics of nearly a dozen of them. When you see this many all at once, it becomes apparent just how revolutionary they really were.
]]>Frank Maraschiello is the vice president of the 20th-Century Decorative Arts department at Bonham’s, New York. Recently we spoke with Maraschiello about Mid-century Modern design, from George Nelson’s famous marshmallow couch to Eames chairs to the furniture of George Nakashima.This is an excellent interview. Read the whole thing.
Mid-century Modern used the technology of mass production to produce good-looking pieces of furniture out of the latest materials. A number of these materials became commonplace after World War II, so the idea was to make things affordable. These were not “custom-made pieces.” When you bought a Tiffany lamp, even though that was a production piece in its day, it was also a handmade piece that cost as much as $500. That was a huge amount of money. It was not for general consumption. The Ruhlmann chair from the ’20s could cost as much as a house it went into. These pieces were made for the really, really wealthy classes.
Did you know that during the Nixon-Kennedy debate, both men were sitting in Hans Wegner chairs? Me neither.
]]>
When you score, you score.
BAZ has a nice list of San Francisco MCM shops, too:
Mid Century Modern Atomic Indy: MCM Furniture San Francisco Bay Area
Includes one - Farnsworth - I haven't been inside yet myself.
]]>
The furnishings are on loan from Retro@home, a nifty MCM purveyor across the Bay from me in Emeryville, CA. (Just up the street from the Ikea, if you know where I mean...)
]]>
It looks okay. But at $750, I can't for the life of me imagine why somebody wouldn't want one of these, for $475, instead.
Of course, I'm old school when it comes to MCM.
]]>
And while, if you live in Texas, the 800k price tag may knock your teeth back a bit, for California it's extremely reasonable. This one would have gone for 1.5 million three years ago.
(via Renee Adelmann).
]]>
The lousy economic climate is putting a lot of good stuff on the auction block at very attractive prices.
]]>My son has just had his first birthday and I was thinking of using some of the money he got to buy a child size Eames rocker for his bedroom as I have seen various other designer chairs in mini sizes. But I can't find one. Anyone got any ideas?Sure. I dunno if Herman Miller ever actually made any, but you can get one from Vitra that looks pretty good today:
These chairs have never been my favorite Eames pieces - something about them makes them seem as if they were put together using leftovers from other projects - but compared to a lot of the dreck flooding the so-called "modern" market today, they are still works of genius. These have been at Lushpad since mid-summer, priced quite reasonably at $700 for the pair. I'm surprised somebody hasn't grabbed them. As I say, they are fairly hard to come by.
]]>The report must have hit Harold Prinz right in the gut: "A non-conventional house on a non-conventional lot."Via reader Emily Bennett comes this gorgeous photospread of a wonderful mid-century home in Dallas that almost didn't get built.]]>The Federal Housing Administration was flatly denying financing for the modernist architect to build his own dream home.
Standing in the hot sun and gazing at the undeveloped lot at 5016 Maple Springs Blvd., Prinz couldn't help but bite his lip. His wife, Jeanette, remembers squeezing his hand.
FLOR does the legendary Alexander Girard. Click the pic for more.
]]>
The king of California mid-century architecture may no longer be with us, but his family firm continues apace. Click the pic for more.
]]>
If you have the financial wherewithal to buy whatever you want, and are looking for one-stop shopping for licensed editions of iconic MCM pieces, you can do a lot worse that checking out this place. Free shipping on everything, and lots of good pics.
I think his results look better than mine.
]]>