Esoteric Survey

George Nelson for Howard Miller fire tools, Raymond Loewy for Mengel stool and a wire basket. Doyle Lane mask

Radiant Abstractions, a  retrospective of paintings by Bay Area artist Richard Bowman (1918-2001) at The Landing . In the 1950s and 60s, Bowman pioneered the use of  fluorescent paints, incorporating them into wildly energetic abstract  works profoundly influenced by scientific phenomena. Gerard O'Brien, the owner of The Landing and a longtime friend. I made him pose. An early Bowman hanging in the office. Bowman  was a pivotal figure in the art scene in Northern California in  mid-twentieth century; he had solo shows at the San Francisco Museum of  Art (now called SFMOMA) in 1961 and 1970, and a two-person show there in  1959, with Gordon Onslow Ford; his first retrospective in the region  was at Stanford in 1956. In 1962, two of Bowman’s paintings were  included in the seminal exhibition 50 California Artists at the  Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. (Bowman was also included  in the Sao...

Inco stools, Ward Youry Ceramics, Glenn of California for Stewart MacDougall coffee table and another Hans Olsen fireplace. 

 Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena is Historic Route 66. This 1948 building is just one of the great examples of architecture still in existence on the historic roadway. The building started out as Draper Studio of Modes. The business was founded by Virginia Draper in 1927. She was inspired after visiting Chanel Modes in Paris. Source:  66 Postcards In 1948, the building was enlarged and remodeled to fit the "modern" brand Virginia had built. Although the company left this Colorado Boulevard location many years ago, the company was still around until 2017, when the company who acquired them decided to close all their retail locations. Ninety years is not a bad run and  Draper's  still does have an online presence. More about Virgina can be found here .  Source: 66 Postcards 70 years later, the palm trees seem to be doing well. The building is in what looks like to be excellent condition and is designated as a historical landmark. ...

Henry P. Glass cabinet for Fleetwood and a stool by Kipp Stewart and Stewart McDougall for Glenn of California.  Though few were built, the Fleetwood Corporation and Glass became a regular pair with Glass designing patented case goods for them in 1955 that displayed the frame on the outside as an aesthetic feature while freeing space inside. Built throughout the late 1950s for schools and offices, this “Tube” chassis was an alternative to the more expensive Charles and Ray Eames Storage Units from Herman Miller to become one of Fleetwood’s most ubiquitous cabinets. And they remained a constant client with Glass designing children’s school desks for the company through the 1960s. (ArchiTech Gallery) Source: Art Institute of Chicago I wonder if the bed ever went into production?  Source: Art Institute of Chicago

Travelstead Hall (1963) at University of New Mexico by Max Flatow , Moore, Bryan and Fairburn 1963 Source: Albuquerque Modernism A detailed write up on the building can be found at  Albuquerque Modernism .

Smalls from the weekend. Bill Curry, Stan Bitters and Martz