Showing posts with label Eames. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eames. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2012
In the store: Delightful dining
Freshly upholstered in white vinyl and powdercoated in black...this great dining set has just made it onto the floor of the store. The classic Eames Aluminum Group table is 42" in diameter and looks great with the Eames upholstered shell armchairs. This set is getting lots of Likes on our Facebook page.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Charles and Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter
Several other bloggers have mentioned the PBS airing of Charles and Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter on December 19, 2011, and have told their readers that the full documentary film is available online. If you still haven't seen it, I thought I'd remind you again, because it's definitely worth viewing. Part of the American Masters series, the film explores the couple's artistic collaboration and their contribution to modern design and the computer age. It also takes an honest look at their love affair and their sometimes troubled marriage.
In interviews with former designers in the Eames Office, the film also explores the workings of the office, as well as the complex relationships within the team, including the mixed feelings of the other designers when Charles Eames received all the credit for their collaborative work. Also examined is the marginalization felt by Ray when she was publicly relegated to the status of "the woman behind the great man" instead of being treated as his equal.
This film gives a comprehensive look at the famous couple and the environment they created, both in their office and in their own home. It is a must-see for anyone who wants a view of Charles and Ray Eames as real flesh-and-blood people, not the idealized, sanitized, walk-on-water version we often get.
In news closer to home, we have obtained an Eames Sofa-Compact (sometimes simply called the Compact Sofa) in a trade with another dealer. It's similar to the one below, and you'll be seeing photos of the actual piece once we get moved into the new location. The design evolved from a built-in sofa in the Pacific Palisades home that Charles and Ray Eames designed for themselves in the 1940s. The freestanding version available now was first produced in 1954.
In interviews with former designers in the Eames Office, the film also explores the workings of the office, as well as the complex relationships within the team, including the mixed feelings of the other designers when Charles Eames received all the credit for their collaborative work. Also examined is the marginalization felt by Ray when she was publicly relegated to the status of "the woman behind the great man" instead of being treated as his equal.
This film gives a comprehensive look at the famous couple and the environment they created, both in their office and in their own home. It is a must-see for anyone who wants a view of Charles and Ray Eames as real flesh-and-blood people, not the idealized, sanitized, walk-on-water version we often get.
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| Ray and Charles Eames nybooks.com |
In news closer to home, we have obtained an Eames Sofa-Compact (sometimes simply called the Compact Sofa) in a trade with another dealer. It's similar to the one below, and you'll be seeing photos of the actual piece once we get moved into the new location. The design evolved from a built-in sofa in the Pacific Palisades home that Charles and Ray Eames designed for themselves in the 1940s. The freestanding version available now was first produced in 1954.
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| treadwaygallery.com |
Thursday, February 17, 2011
According to a Collector: Is it real?
I recently ran across an article entitled "Is It Real?" on the Jet Set Modern website. It is a three-part look at originals, knockoffs, reproductions and re-issues from the point of view of a collector, a manufacturer and an heir of a famous designer.
Collector Sandy McLendon contends that most people have a knee-jerk reaction to pieces other than an original for several reasons: respect for the designer's intent, the desire to protect an investment or plain ol' snobbery. McLendon also points out, and I think rightfully so, that most people don't understand design law and don't really have a clear understanding of the terms original, knock-off, reproduction or re-issue, even though they may think they do.
McLendon is quick to point out that there is much "gray area" surrounding these terms and warns against oversimplification but, with that caveat, gives a quick, general definition of each one:
Authorized re-issues are usually produced because the original company no longer exists or no longer wants to make the product. In this case, the designer, his or her heirs or the old company gives permission to another company, as in the case of Vitra's George Nelson Coconut chair, which Herman Miller decided was too expensive to produce.
And what does the law say about all this anyway? Interestingly enough, you can pretty much copy anything you want to as long as you make a few changes, even something as minor as a color change, don't call it by the designer's trademark name and don't apply a fake label.
But then you have to deal with the thorny issue of what exactly constitutes an "original." Is it the prototype of a product? Is it a production piece? And then is it the earliest production or the latest? Or if you've bought an "original" Eames lounge chair but it has been reupholstered or restuffed, is it really still "original"?
All these are things the collector must consider when buying mid-century pieces. McLendon suggested that there actually are some good reasons to buy reproductions or re-issues:
But does McLendon want repros or re-issues after somewhat making a case for them? No, not really.
When you line them all up, you begin to see why this is such a confusing and difficult issue. Everybody, it seems, makes a chair like this...and a few of them were actually designed by Charles Eames.
(This is the first of three posts on this topic. The second will run Thursday, February 24. The third will run on Thursday, March 3.)
Collector Sandy McLendon contends that most people have a knee-jerk reaction to pieces other than an original for several reasons: respect for the designer's intent, the desire to protect an investment or plain ol' snobbery. McLendon also points out, and I think rightfully so, that most people don't understand design law and don't really have a clear understanding of the terms original, knock-off, reproduction or re-issue, even though they may think they do.
McLendon is quick to point out that there is much "gray area" surrounding these terms and warns against oversimplification but, with that caveat, gives a quick, general definition of each one:
- Knock-off - An item usually of inferior quality that borrows liberally from a design without actually copying it
- Reproduction - An exact copy of a item that is of equal quality (or sometimes even better) and sometimes even made by the company that made the original
- Re-issue - An item that is put back into production after being discontinued, sometimes using original molds or dies and sometimes addressing design or production problems encountered when making the original, resulting in a better product
Authorized re-issues are usually produced because the original company no longer exists or no longer wants to make the product. In this case, the designer, his or her heirs or the old company gives permission to another company, as in the case of Vitra's George Nelson Coconut chair, which Herman Miller decided was too expensive to produce.
Unauthorized reproductions usually result when the original design patent expires, at which time it's anybody's game, but they can be the result of a company's having bought old molds and dies from a company going out of business.
And what does the law say about all this anyway? Interestingly enough, you can pretty much copy anything you want to as long as you make a few changes, even something as minor as a color change, don't call it by the designer's trademark name and don't apply a fake label.
But then you have to deal with the thorny issue of what exactly constitutes an "original." Is it the prototype of a product? Is it a production piece? And then is it the earliest production or the latest? Or if you've bought an "original" Eames lounge chair but it has been reupholstered or restuffed, is it really still "original"?
All these are things the collector must consider when buying mid-century pieces. McLendon suggested that there actually are some good reasons to buy reproductions or re-issues:
- They're more affordable than very rare pieces.
- They can be used as a "placeholder" in a collection till an original piece is found.
- They can be substituted for pieces so valuable that actual use is impractical.
But does McLendon want repros or re-issues after somewhat making a case for them? No, not really.
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| Genuine Eames 670 Lounge Chair and 671 Ottoman ($7,250) 1stdibs.com |
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| Genuine Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, 1956 ($9,800) Made the first production year. Does this make it "more original"? Price tag says "Yes!" |
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| Unidentified Eames knock-off...Notice the extra leg on the ottoman? jetsetrnv8r.wordpress.com |
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| Selig "Eames" chair oldschoolartifacts.com |
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| Plycraft "Eames" lounge chair and ottoman ($549) planetmodern.com |
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| Vitra Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman vitra.com |
When you line them all up, you begin to see why this is such a confusing and difficult issue. Everybody, it seems, makes a chair like this...and a few of them were actually designed by Charles Eames.
(This is the first of three posts on this topic. The second will run Thursday, February 24. The third will run on Thursday, March 3.)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Know Your Eames
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| antiques.about.com (provided by Richard Wright) |
I ran across an interesting article by Troy Segal entitled "Know Your Eames," which he wrote after interviewing Richard Wright of the Wright auction house. The article offered nine suggestions on how to recognize Eames pieces, as well as how to evaluate what they might be worth.
The article is very helpful if you're new to searching for Eames pieces, because it shows you several labels to look for and gives tips on what makes one Eames piece more valuable than another.
It also suggests several other sources of information about Charles and Ray Eames, including Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames by Marilyn & John Neuhart and Ray Eames (Harry N. Abrams, 1989), the Eames Office website, run by Charles’s grandson, and the Herman Miller website.
I'm eager to buy the two-volume Neuhart book The Story of Eames Furniture (Gestalten, 2010), which has 800 pages containing more than 2,500 images. I'm sure this book will soon be considered the final authority on everything Eames. (See my post about the book, as well as a video interview with Marilyn and John Neuhart.)
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| Fiberglass RAR (Rocking Armchair Rod base) rocker 1stdibs.com |
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| RAR Rocker Zeeland label 1stdibs.com |
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| LAR (Lounge Armchair Rod) upholstered fiberglass chair 1stdibs.com |
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| LAR chair label with Herman Miller logo 1stdibs.com |
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Charles and Ray Eames
Back in St Louis, Charles opened an architectural office which went out of business during the Depression. He set up another practice in 1935 and was asked to design a house for friends of Catherine. He sought the advice of the architect Eliel Saarinen who offered him a fellowship to study architecture and design at Cranbrook Academy. There, Charles deepened his friendship with Eliel and his son Eero, with whom he won the 1940 Museum of Modern Art Organic Furniture Competition. He also found new collaborators there--notably Harry Bertoia and, later, Ray Kaiser.
Bernice Alexandra Kaiser (1912-1988), nicknamed Ray, enrolled at Cranbrook in 1940, where she met Charles Eames. Four months after meeting him, she left Cranbrook. He filed for divorce, and he and Ray married in 1941.
At home in Los Angeles, Charles found work at MGM, and Ray created covers for California Art & Architecture magazine. At night, they conducted plywood experiments in their spare bedroom. In 1942 they started a collaborative effort with Harry Bertoia and Gregory Ain, producing sculpture, chairs, screens, tables and even toys. George Nelson, head of design at Herman Miller, convinced others at the company to put some of these pieces into production. All Eames plywood designs combined an elegant organic aesthetic with a love of materials and technical ingenuity.
These qualities were also apparent in the showroom they designed for Herman Miller in 1949 and the Case Study Houses, a low cost housing project sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, which included the Eames House, a steel structure with sliding walls and windows. Designed for inexpensive, speedy construction, it took five men 16 hours to raise the steel shell and one man three days to build the roof deck. The house and its contents epitomized Charles and Ray's approach to design and their "good life" concept of celebrating the beauty of everyday objects.
After plywood, the Eames Office focused on equally zealous experiments with other materials by creating furniture in fiberglass, plastic, aluminum and, for the 1956 Lounge Chair, leather and a very opulent plywood.
Their collaboration with Herman Miller continued and extended to Vitra, its European partner. The Eames Office also began a long-lasting relationship with IBM for which they made films and designed exhibitions. Throughout the 1950s, their furniture was exhibited in the Good Design shows with which MoMA sought to raise the public's awareness of design.
Charles died August 21, 1978. Ray then worked hard to complete any unfinished projects but, having done so, did not seek new ones. She devoted the rest of her life to communicating their ideas through talks and writing. Ray Eames died on August 21, 1988, ten years to the day after Charles.
From designmuseum.org
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| My favorite photo of Ray and Charles Eames esotericsurvey.blogspot.com |
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| Molded plywood lounge chair, 1950s 1stdibs.com |
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| Sofa, 1950s 1stdibs.com |
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| Surfboard coffee tables, 1950s 1stdibs.com |
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| Time Life chair, 1950s 1stdibs.com |
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| Rosewood lounge, 1956 1stdibs.com |
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| Fiberglass shell armchair, 1957 1stdibs.com |
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| Aluminum Group side chair, 1958 1stdibs.com |
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| Eames house eamesfoundation.org |
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