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Showing posts with label Julius Shulman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julius Shulman. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Famous Case Study House #21 for sale

Case Study House #21, immortalized by photographer Julius Shulman, is for sale. The asking price is $4,500,000. Known as the Bailey House, the 2 bedroom/2 bath 1280 sf home was designed by architect Pierre Koenig for psychologist Walter Bailey and his wife Mary in 1958 and was featured in the February 1959 issue of Arts & Architecture as part of the magazine's Case Study Program.

In 1997 the current owner of the home, film producer Dan Cracchiolo (of Matrix, Lethal Weapon and Conspiracy Theory fame), asked Koenig to supervise a complete restoration, as it had suffered many alterations over the years. The work was completed in 1999.

The house sits on a 12,450 sf lot in West Hollywood and has a spectacular canyon view.

From estately.com









Monday, December 8, 2014

Hint #2: Books, books, books

We always give each other books at Christmas. In fact, I don't think there's ever been a Christmas in my whole life that I didn't receive books. My parents were both avid readers and showered me with books when I was a child. I grew up to be an English teacher and later a librarian, so I still love to give and receive them. Since my daughter and SIL are bibliophiles too, the tradition will go on.

Here are the top two on my list this year. My SIL is now an authorized seller of Taschen books, so I don't think it will be hard to get what I want.


taschen.com

taschen.com


Someday, I want the three-volume set. It retails for $300, so even at wholesale, it's a pricey gift. I may have to save my pennies and treat myself to this one.


taschen.com

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Julius Shulman

I started this blog September 6, 2010. Some of you have been readers since the beginning. Others have come on board later. From now through the end of the month, I'm going to be on a short blogging break. Not only am I in the middle of a big volunteer project, I'm also trying to help get the new store open, so I've decided share some of my favorite posts from the past four years. I'll throw in a few new photos for you longtime supporters who read the posts when they were first published.


(First posted 11/9/2012)

Julius Shulman (1910-2009) was perhaps the most famous and most talented American photographer of modernist architecture. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, but the family moved to a farm in Connecticut soon afterward. It was there that Shulman's love of nature and the awareness of light and shadow began to influence his future career choice.

When Shulman was 10, the family moved to Los Angeles. He graduated from Roosevelt High School, where he took his only course in photography. After being what he termed "an academic drifter" for seven years at UCLA and UC Berkeley, he left college without a degree.

In 1936, just two weeks after leaving Berkeley, a man who was renting a room from Shulman's sister invited him along to see a Richard Neutra's Kun House. Shulman always carried a camera with him and took photos of the house. The man, who worked as a draftsman for Neutra, showed the photographs to the architect, who sent for the young Shulman and ordered more prints.

As a result of this chance meeting with Neutra, Shulman met other prominent architects, such as Rafael Soriano and Rudolph Schindler. After serving in World War II, Shulman came home to find himself in even more demand than before the war. Of the two dozen Case Study homes designed by such architects as Charles Eames, Craig Ellwood, A. Quincy Jones, Pierre Koenig, Neutra and Soriano, Shulman took photographs of 18.

Before his 70-year career ended, he also photographed the houses of Gregory Ain, Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, Eero Saarinen, Albert Frey, Frank Gehry, Harwell Harris and many others. His work was contained in virtually every book published on modernist architects.

The image of Koenig's Case Study House #22, which was built for Carlotta and Buck Stahl, was the photograph that would secure Shulman's reputation and career. The black-and-white image, taken from outside the house as the sun was setting May 9, 1960, shows two pretty women dressed for a special night out, but for the moment, sitting and chatting. The image became an iconic snapshot of the good life.

Always generous with what he knew about his profession, Shulman for decades conducted seminars in photography at USC, UCLA and other universities. He was awarded the American Institute of Architecture's Gold Medal for architectural photography in 1969.

When Shulman was well into his 90s, a three-volume set called Modernism Rediscovered was published by Taschen. The set features more than 400 of his architectural projects.

From latimes.com and metropolismag.com


Neutra's Kun House
la.curbed.com

Eames/Saarinen's Entenza Residence
metropolismag.com

Soriano's Krause Residence
metropolismag.com

Gehry's Steeves Residence
metropolismag.com

Ain's Wilfong Residence
metropolismag.com

Koenig's Stahl House (Case Study House #22)
juliusshulmanfilm.com

Neutra's Kronish House
archpaper.com

Shulman at work
siongchin.com

Shulman staging a shot with branches and plants
anthonylukephotography.blogspot.com

Shulman with Richard Neutra
marinachetner.com

Shulman at work in later years
viewfromaloft.org

If you haven't seen the documentary Visual Acoustics, I recommend that you visit the film site to learn more about the available DVD or about screening dates on the Sundance Channel and elsewhere.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Julius Shulman

Julius Shulman (1910-2009) was perhaps the most famous and most talented American photographer of modernist architecture. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, but the family moved to a farm in Connecticut soon afterward. It was there that Shulman's love of nature and the awareness of light and shadow began to influence his future career choice.

When Shulman was 10, the family moved to Los Angeles. He graduated from Roosevelt High School, where he took his only course in photography. After being what he termed "an academic drifter" for seven years at UCLA and UC Berkeley, he left college without a degree.

In 1936, just two weeks after leaving Berkeley, a man who was renting a room from Shulman's sister invited him along to see a Richard Neutra's Kun House. Shulman always carried a camera with him and took photos of the house. The man, who worked as a draftsman for Neutra, showed the photographs to the architect, who sent for the young Shulman and ordered more prints.

As a result of this chance meeting with Neutra, Shulman met other prominent architects, such as Rafael Soriano and Rudolph Schindler. After serving in World War II, Shulman came home to find himself in even more demand than before the war. Of the two dozen Case Study homes designed by such architects as Charles Eames, Craig Ellwood, A. Quincy Jones, Pierre Koenig, Neutra and Soriano, Shulman took photographs of 18.

Before his 70-year career ended, he also photographed the houses of Gregory Ain, Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, Eero Saarinen, Albert Frey, Frank Gehry, Harwell Harris and many others. His work was contained in virtually every book published on modernist architects.

The image of Koenig's Case Study House #22, which was built for Carlotta and Buck Stahl, was the photograph that would secure Shulman's reputation and career. The black-and-white image, taken from outside the house as the sun was setting May 9, 1960, shows two pretty women dressed for a special night out, but for the moment, sitting and chatting. The image became an iconic snapshot of the good life.

Always generous with what he knew about his profession, Shulman for decades conducted seminars in photography at USC, UCLA and other universities. He was awarded the American Institute of Architecture's Gold Medal for architectural photography in 1969.

When Shulman was well into his 90s, a three-volume set called Modernism Rediscovered was published by Taschen. The set features more than 400 of his architectural projects.

From latimes.com and metropolismag.com


Neutra's Kun House
la.curbed.com

Eames/Saarinen's Entenza Residence
metropolismag.com

Soriano's Krause Residence
metropolismag.com

Gehry's Steeves Residence
metropolismag.com

Ain's Wilfong Residence
metropolismag.com

Koenig's Stahl House (Case Study House #22)
juliusshulmanfilm.com

Shulman at work
siongchin.com

Shulman at work in later years
viewfromaloft.org

If you haven't seen the documentary Visual Acoustics, I recommend that you visit the film site to learn more about the available DVD or about screening dates on the Sundance Channel and elsewhere.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Pierre Koenig's Case Study House #21 comes full circle

In 1945, architect and editor of Arts & Architecture magazine John Entenza announced the Case Study House Program, which encouraged architects to create low-cost modern housing prototypes that could be duplicated to meet the impending housing shortage after World War II. Along with architects like Richard Neutra, Craig Ellwood, Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen and Raphael Soriano, Pierre Koenig was chosen to take part in the program.

In early 1957, Dr. Walter Bailey and his wife Mary commissioned Koenig to design the 1300 square foot Case Study House 21, now popularly known as the Bailey House, in the Hollywood Hills canyon. The house was completed in 1959.

The next year, Julius Shulman was invited to photograph the home, and along with photographs of another of Koenig's designs (Case Study House #22, the Stahl House), these images became icons of California Modernism.

The Baileys relocated to the East Coast in 1969 and sold the house. Over the next thirty years, the structure suffered many alterations which destroyed much of Koenig's design. However, in 1997, film producer Dan Cracchiolo (of Matrix, Lethal Weapon and Conspiracy Theory fame) saw Shulman's photographs and bought the Bailey House. He commissioned Pierre Koenig to oversee restoration of the home to its original beauty. Of the previous alterations, Koenig said, “Even though I knew what had been going on in this house, it was a great shock to see it. My houses are like children to me.”

In addition to restoring architectural elements, Cracchiolo even commissioned replicas of some of the original furnishings from the original manufacturers, including Gerald McCabe's long Formica cabinet and the black Naugahyde sofa in the entryway, which were made famous in Shulman's photos. In 2006, Shulman, at age 95, was again invited to photograph the Bailey House.

Cracchiolo’s restoration was featured in the July 1999 issue of Architectural Digest, and in 2001, Koenig was honored with the Preservation 2000 award from the City of Los Angeles for the Bailey House restoration.

In 2000, the house was purchased by film producer and famous-house collector Michael LaFetra. Reportedly, Koenig called LaFetra and said, " “Hello, this is Pierre, your architect, and I want to talk.” LaFetra was told by Koenig that “he ought not to have to change anything in the house but, if he needed to, he should get in touch with him.” A friendship developed between the two, and Koenig designed a Malibu beach house for LaFetra, his last project.

LaFetra made sure he got the Bailey House listed as a Historic-Cultural Monument before selling it in 2002. Pierre Koenig passed away from leukemia in April 2004 at the age of 78 knowing that his work was appreciated by a new generation of architecture lovers.

From jetsetmodern.com, wikipedia.org




Shulman photo of entryway, 1960
jetsetmodern.com
Shulman photo of entryway, 2006
dailyicon.com

Famous Shulman entryway photo
pichaus.com

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt recreate
 the famous Shulman entryway photo
jetsetmoderist.tumblr.com

Kitchen, 1960
jetsetmodern.com

Kitchen, 2006
dailyicon.com
Looking out kitchen into carport, 1960
wikiarquitectura.com

Looking out kitchen into carport, 2006
dailyicon.com

Living area with deck area in rear, 1960
jetsetmodern.com

Living area, looking in from deck, 2006
dailyicon.com

Exterior, 1960
jetsetmodern.com

Exterior, 2006
dailyicon.com

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Gerald McCabe

Gerald McCabe (1927-2010) was born in Long Beach, California. He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School and then served in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He received a bachelor's degree from UCLA and a master's from California State University Long Beach, both in fine art.

McCabe opened a custom furniture business in the mid-1950s. He designed furniture for companies such as Brown Saltman and Glenn of California. In the 1960s and 1970s, he designed and produced his own lines under the names Erin Furniture and Orange Crate Modern. McCabe's design is known for its modern lines, precision joinery and the combining of wood, glass and steel.

His designs were included in the Case Study House #21 by architect Pierre Koenig. A famous photograph by Julius Shulman shows Koenig standing by a stereo cabinet designed by McCabe.

McCabe's first wife was a folk singer, and as a result of McCabe's reputation as a master woodworker, his wife's friends started bring guitars to him for repair. This side business evolved into McCabe's Guitar Shop, a music institution in Santa Monica, which became a gathering spot for music fans and musicians.

McCabe, known as a free spirit, also restored and sailed a tugboat, taught design at area universities and art schools, was a yoga instructor, repaired Citroen automobiles, raced cars and built his own home in Santa Monica Canyon.

From latimes.com
Photo by Julius Shulman of Case Study House #21
pichaus.com
Flip table (used as a coffee table or dining table)
latimes.com
Armchairs
1stdibs.com
3-drawer desk
reformgallery.1stdibs.com
Clamp table
vandm.com
Steel frame sofa
latimes.com
Chrome and glass table
Convertible side table
reformgallery.1stdibs.com
Coffee table
wright20.com
Dining table and chair
reformgallery.1stdibs.com