Esoteric Survey

One of my favorite booths at the 2019 Palm Springs Modernism show was the Clyde Burt exhibition by Converso. 
In addition to traditional pottery forms, there were some dynamite abstract wall plaques and sculptural pieces.



That sign hung at Clyde's Ohio pottery studio.

Here's the whole booth.
In a 1966 Ceramics Monthly"...in explaining how he creates his distinctive ceramic wall plaques, Clyde Burt refers to them as "jigsaw puzzles," and there's as much truth as humor in his description. The plaque starts out as a more or less realized design, later is taken apart in pieces, then finally is put back together again."

Clyde Burt (1922-1981) was born in Melrose, Ohio.  He studied at Fort Wayne Art School and the Cape Cod School of Art.  He then worked under Maija Grotell at Cranbrook.  
He then returned to Ohio and worked as a full-time studio potter on his family's 28-acre farm. He then taught at Fort Wayne and Dayton Art Institute, and also participa…

Axel Larsson chair from 1948 , Peter Pepper magazine rack and Isamu Noguchi table for Knoll
Jack Boyd, Harrison McIntosh and Frans Wildenhain
Jack Boyd necklace.

On Saturday, March 16th, a crew of a dozen or so Midcentury collectors will be gathering in San Diego to unload some great vintage goods.
 For the second year in a row, it will now be hosted by One Bunk at their Barrio Logan headquarters. It's a great space and includes some indoor and outdoor areas.

INCO was an independent furniture company located in Los Angeles from 1924 to 1977.
Francis Inco (left) was the owner of the company. At the time, the factory was located in downtown Los Angeles. In 1934 Francis was killed in a car accident. His son, Joseph Inco (right), was also in the car, but survived. Joseph, who was serving as the general manager of INCO, then became president.
Along with running the company, Joseph designed furniture for INCO. They were primarily a bed manufacturer, then in the 1950s several lines of iron furniture were added.
INCO lounge


Inco stacking stools/tables are very similar to a design by Florence Knoll.
In addition to the frame extending further beyond the wood on the INCO stools, the most obvious difference is seen under the hood. The INCO version has rectangular metal tabs for the mounting screws. On the Knoll frame, the screws go directly through the rods (without tabs). 
I know this is very important information : / 


Milo Baughman designed INCO's …

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 Paulo Biennial in 1953-1954.) His circle in the Bay Area  included Lee Mullican, J…

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