Esoteric Survey

  Last week I visited the California Design auction preview at Los Angeles Modern's new space in Hollywood.  Sam Maloof is a staple and so is Stan Bitters, but who is that on the left? Yes, that is indeed a Lawrence Hunter clock. THE clock from California Design 76! Michael Cooper's Soapbox Derby Car , which is seen on the opposing page of California Design 76, is also in the sale. In 1975, the San Francisco Museum of Art held a fundraiser where they invited artists to build soapbox derby racing cars and trophies. This downhill racer was his entry.  It was later shown at the Pasadena Museum of Art's California Design 76, which was held at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.  Here is a small portion of the other artists who participated in the derby. I wonder what the Ruth Asawa piece looked like?  The  LAMA essay  includes a must watch video on the derby.  In October of the same year, Cooper had an exhibition of 14 works, mostly with wheel...

  Los Angeles Modern Auctions asked me to help with a Design auction that will happen on November 15th. It's a huge honor and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to spread the word about some of my favorite designers, like Maurice Martiné , Olga Lee and moments in history, such as Pacifica . With the help of some good friends and the LAMA team, we put together what I think is an incredible collection. Check it out  here .

IBM Mainframe models, THINK signs and a Selectric type ball display. I'll get more into this in a separate post.  Letters from Maurice Martiné's shop in Laguna. I'll have to get the I made for it.  Michael & Frances Higgins Clock

1937 college humor magazine from USC. The cover drawing is by Maurice Martines, who later changed his name to  Maurice Martiné . There has been a bit of mystery on whether or not his name was Martinez, with a "Z" or not. Some speculated he changed it to avoid discrimination of having a hispanic name. It actually turned out to be that he thought Martiné had panache and was more suitable for a designer. During his studies at USC, Martiné studied under Glen Lukens.  And last month at Bonhams  a Lukens bowl from the Martiné estate came up for sale. His Eames lounge chair and ottoman were also up for grabs.

William Katavolos chair for Leathercrafter and Maurice Martine table  Marguerite Wildenhain Pond Farm cup and a vase I'm trying to figure out.

The Mutual Housing Association Site Office (1947)  by A. Quincy Jones, Whitney Smith and Edgardo Contini. The Mutual Housing Association concept began with four musicians who, in 1946, wanted to share an acre of land and a swimming pool. At one point, the association had 500 members. Mutual Housing Association was formed as a nonprofit entity. All of the members of the co-operative owned shares and would be entitled to a housing site. After looking at various properties around Los Angeles, they settled on the rolling hills of Brentwood. They purchased 835 acres for $400,000 and the sites for homes were estimated to cost between $11,000 to $25,000. A. Quincy Jones, Whitney Smith and structural engineer Edgardo Contini were selected to design the community.  Source: Arts & Architecture Here's a map for reference. The site office was the first building constructed and was essentially a full-scale mockup. Although not an actual house, the basic str...