Esoteric Survey

  Paolo Soleri Special Assembly from the 60s Gertrud and Otto Natzler  Henning Koppel and Jerry Glenn Dick Seeger Mogens Koch MK-16 Safari Chair Fred Press magazine rack As seen in Good Design 1952

  Ceramic lamp by Tony Hill The lamp can be seen here with a shade, to the right of Tony himself. Photo: Jet, 1957 Tony Hill (1908-1975) grew up in St. Joseph, Kansas. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. William A. Hill. His father was the head waiter at a local hotel, along with being the editor and publisher of a newspaper called The Protest. Tony received a degree in social work from the University of Kansas at Lawrence and the Graduate School at University of Chicago. He worked as a case worker at United Charities. He took a four month trip to Europe, visited galleries and studied craft and art in Sweden. He returned to the US and worked as a social worker in Albany. In 1940, he married actress Frances Williams. After moving up the ranks as a social worker, he abruptly quit after being passed up for a promotion because the U.S. Social Security Board board “didn't think the country was ready for a Negro representative in a branch office.” His wife Frances wanted to move to Los Angeles...

 Back to my trip to New York. It was a short one, so I was only able to go to two shops.  Being a longtime fan of Weinberg Modern , I'm so glad I was able to visit the showroom in Tribeca. Larry has been in the business since the early 1990's, He's been dedicated to an academic approach that involves the rediscovery of some of the more obscure designers from the late late 1940s and 1950s. In addition to many rare examples by designers such as Henry P Glass, Bill Lam and Greta Grossman, the collection of books and catalogs is just incredible.   Ralph Rapson rocker and Fran Hosken table Some of the great titles at Weinberg Modern Books A Bill Lam lamp on a cabinet by Elaine Lustig Cohen, and a rare stool by elite east coast iron guy Darrell Landrum. Speaking of Bill Lam, I've never seen another one of these.  This is truly a unicorn. A lamp by Jo Mead Designs. Here is another look at the Henry P Glass lounge, a prototype. Eames designs always holds their...

Carl Auböck fire tools, Danny Ho Fong and Prescolite lamp A couple of ikebanas and another Tom McMillin  Carl Auböck Mel Bogart for Felmore fire tools With the Good Design label! 1955

  Los Angeles Downtown Modernism Sunday, April 30, 2023 The best flea market around is back! Market Hours are from 8AM - 2PM 2901 Saco St. Los Angeles, CA 90058 More info

TWA Flight Center (1962) by Eero Saarinen at JFK airport in New York City. The thin-shelled concrete structure was commissioned in 1956 by TWA owner Howard Hughes. It's one of Saarinen's signature projects, although he died in 1961 before the flight center opened.  After being closed for 16 years, a major renovation took place that included the addition of two new hotel structures behind the Saarinen building. It reopened in 2019.   In addition to being a hotel lobby, there are a number of dining/drinking establishments, historical displays and a gift shop. Besides a few kitschy aspects (like a Twister room), it's really well done. All-in-all the restoration as well as the reprogramming of the space is incredible.   Obviously a lot of Saarinen Knoll furniture. Catch Me if You Can There's even a TWA plane parked in back. It's a bar. This is one of the TWA hotel buildings. I can't imagine there being a single building anywhere with more womb chairs than that. Alt...