Esoteric Survey

Catalina Island is someplace I thought about venturing to for years but for some reason never did. That was a mistake. It's so charming and there is even some good architecture. Catalina Casino (1929) was commissioned by William Wrigley Jr and designed by Sumner Spaulding and Walter Webber, under David M. Renton. Wrigley was the gum guy and also owned the Chicago Cubs. He also owned pretty much the entire island.  The casino is constructed of steel and concrete. The steel structure was prefabricated on the mainland and shipped to Catalina. The roof tiles were made from local Catalina clay.  1929 Source: Los Angeles Public Library Legacy Photo Collection The style of the 12-story building is described as Mediterranean Art Deco.  The murals are by John Gabriel Beckman. They were originally supposed to be done in tile but the tile production was being consumed by other aspects of the building.  The lobby with sofas resembling waves. The theater is said to be the first i...

  The slim pickings of the holiday season is upon us. Arne Jacobsen, Nissen bar caddy, and Ted Saito hanging ceramic sculpture. I sold the Saito sculpture and the person who bought it asked me for more information on him. I knew the basics. He was a San Diego artist who exhibited worked in a few mediums and was a member of the San Diego Art Guild. Saito was most-known as a potter. He exhibited quite often, including out of state, as evident in the above announcement for a 1985 show of Japanese-American artists in Palm Beach, Florida. I decided to do some digging and found out more about his early life. Ted Akira Saito was born on November 14, 1936 in Santa Maria, California, the eldest child of Tat and Frances Saito and grandson of Tanjiro and Kiku Saito. He and his family were incarcerated at Gila River at a Japanese-American internment camp during WWII. This was a horrific experience fellow artists like Ruth Asawa, George Nakashima and Isamu Noguchi we also subjected to. Saito re...

  Peter Blake Gallery curates another  BLAKEHAUS  installation. This time it's at the Hunt House by Craig Ellwood and Jerrold Lomax. It's my first time being back inside since it's been restored. At one point it was on the verge of being demolished . It has since been purchased and restored  by architect Diane Bald and her husband Michael Budman. They were also able to get some of the original furnishing back. Those pieces have been temporarily moved off site for this exhibition. As described by the gallery: This iteration of BLAKEHAUS mines the aesthetics of modern architecture, West Coast minimalism, and historical modern design in a site-specific installation at The Hunt House in Malibu, CA. Eames chair that was deaccessioned from a Greek museum. It has a Hille label on the bottom. That's something you don't often see in the US. This nook looks like it was designed for this DeWain Valentine. The Hunt house really is the perfect setting for West Coast Minimalism ...