Maraschiello on MCM
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.
