Esoteric Survey

La Gardo Tackett for Architectural Pottery This was Tackett Wednesday

The Kaufmann "Desert House" (1946) by Richard Neutra I have to stop by every time I'm in Palm Springs.

La Gardo Tackett and Van Keppel Green  Rocker by Hans Mitzlaff & Albrecht Lange. Made in the USSR Smalls David Stewart pots and iron Alvin Lustig  cover for    New Directions : New Classics 9 -- The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald It's rare to be able to complete a collection. Now what?  Japanese Postmodern clock by  Syohei Mihara

 I took a drive up Pacific Coast Highway. Winters in Southern California are brutal . Redondo Beach Yes, a gas station and car wash.  They should hide more of the m like th at . I f I were writing the zo ning codes, it would be required. Manhattan Beach Chase. It was built in 1964 as a Coast Federal Bank.  This car totally ruined my shot. He was in there too, for a while. Who hangs out in a bank parking lot on a Sunday?  This photo blocking jerk. South Bay Bank by Craig Ellwood. More here . I just had to stop. 

I still get excited when I find Nelson bubbles lamps A Bertoia kid's chair and Knoll letter tray. #alwaysbeknolling Smalls   More iron

Ron Nagle: Peripheral Cognition  at the San Diego Museum of Art  (SDMA) is  surprisingly Nagel's first major solo museum exhibition. It includes work from over 30 years and it's magical. Along with ceramic sculptures with glazes that are like no other is a series of drawings that have never been shown publicly. The exhibition design is tremendous. This exhibition ends on February 27. You better not miss it. Right now is the time to go to SDMA.   Gauguin to Warhol: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox is in the gallery next to the Nagle exhibit. It's as power as it gets, as seen here with Clyfford Still and David Smith. The Still looks small in this photo. It's actually enormous.  R obert Irwin and Anne Truitt are also part of the  Gauguin to Warhol exhibition. It ends January 27th.  The SDMA permanent collection isn't bad either.  Malcolm Leland protects the art. They're still pla

Ed Ruscha - "Norm's, La Cienga, on Fire"  1964 In a potential case of life imitating art, on January 5th, the new owner of Norms applied for and received a permit to demolish the building at 470-478 La Cienega Boulevard.   The building was designed by architects Louis Armet and Eldon Davis and completed in 1957 Image: archdaily "On January 15, 2015, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) will meet and hopefully vote in support of taking Norms La Cienega Coffee Shop under consideration for Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) status. Designed by influential modern architects Louis Armet and Eldon Davis and completed in 1957, Norms La Cienega is an exuberant example of the California coffee shop type and an expressive Googie masterwork." Visit the LA Conservancy to find out how you can help save Norms.

Ceramics by Tony Hill (1908-1975) Hill was a noted Africa American artist who studied ceramics under Glen Lukens at USC. He ran a successful ceramics studio in Los Angles that was in business for over 30 years. His bio in  A Handbook of California Design, 1930-1965: Craftspeople, Designers, Manufacturers   describes him as a prominent member of the Los Angeles African American artistic circle and a role model for younger artists in the community, including  John W. Outterbridge .    Ads for his company were a common sight in Arts &  Architecture  magazine in the 1950s. Considering his  notoriety  and time in business, it would be expected that more of his work would show up on the secondary market, but examples  seems scarce .  Source: Arts & Architecture, 1952 Source: Jet Magazine, 1953 An ultra-modern home in 1953 sounds good. I wonder who the architect was?  Tony Hill Tony Hill Source: Jet Magazine, 1957 Source: Arts & Architectu