Esoteric Survey

Arts & Architecture Case Study House 20 / Bailey House for Dr. Stuart Bailey by Richard Neutra, 1948 There are actually two CSH 20's. The other is the Saul Bass House by Buff and Hensmen, 1958
The house is on a private drive off Chautauqua Boulevard/ AKA Case Study House Central CSH 8 (Eames House) ,9 (Eames/Saarinen Entenza House), 20 and 18 (Rodney Walker's West House)  are all neighbors.  All the land once belonged to Arts & Architecture owner and editor, John Entenza. He purchased the property in 1945. Neutra designed two additions to the house, one in 1950 and the other in 1958. Photo: Julius Shulman   Source: Getty Research Institute
Photo: Julius Shulman   Source: Getty Research Institute
Photo: Julius Shulman   Source: Getty Research Institute
Source: Neutra. Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht, Julius Shulman, Peter Gössel
That's a nice set up: Eames, Alan Gould, Jens Risom.  Part of being part of the Case Study Program was that the client received  discounts on the fur…

George Nelson would have been 105 today.

George Nelson presents a history of weapon technology...  Which is also "..a scathing commentary on the arms race during the Cold War." It's not really the cheeriest video for his birthday, but interesting nonetheless.

Yeah, another Eames House post.








You can help support the Eames House at EamesHouse250
More on the house: here, here and here

It doesn't get much more important than this, an Eames / Saarinen chair from  the 1940 MoMA Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition, 1940. Image: Wright
Detail Image: Wright
Remember this one?
Isamu Noguchi IN-22 "rudder" dining set for Herman Miller Image: Wright
Stools Image: Wright
Really, the first time ever?  What about this? I guess technically that set was in separate lots,  but come on, it's the same exact set.
Image: Wright
One of many great Natzlers in the sale. Image: Wright
Here's another. This is a pretty unusual form and glaze for a Natzler. Image: Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright lamp Image: Wright
Marcel Breuer tapestry, for the haus Image: Wright

Farnsworth
Skalar Modern
Weinberg Modern
It's good to see some old school Douglas Fir DIY modern on 1stdibs. The lack of the usual grasping for designer names through attributions is also refreshing.  Some things are just great no matter who made them. In the manner of honest design.

Bob Mantheny, artist, educator and all around cool guy, recently told me how he camped out at the Aspen Design Conferences in the 1950's, took a field trip to the Eames House back in the day and even did some industrial design. I of course knew of Matheny's artwork and history in the art scene (including Southwestern College and the Art Disposal Service), but this aspect of his career was something I hadn't heard about before. Bob was nice enough to indulge me with a guest post...

Long Beach City College in the late nineteen forties and early fifties provided me the first introduction to the aesthetic we now call "Mid-Century Modern." The art department faculty at that time was young and enthusiastic about teaching art majors a contemporary approach to art, quite a revolution when you compare American art at the time with European art. Pedro Miller was the department chair and ceramics instructor. Norma Matlin was in charge of design, Joe Donat drawing, Fred Mie…

La Gardo Tackett wheel-thrown studio pot
Doyle Lane
Doyle Lane handles
Susan Peterson