Antoni Gaudi

The Catalan architect and creator of many of the twisted, fantastical buildings around Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi was born on June 25, 1852.  His most famous structure was the Sagrada Familia, which he worked on for more than 15 years.

The Nave of the Sagrada Familia

Gaudi  incorporated his other crafts into his architecture:  ceramics, mosaics,

stained glass, iron work and carpentry.  

This is the roof top of Casa Batlio

Droog Designs

The split between Droog Design founders, design historian Renny Ramakers and product designer Gijs Bakker, went public on this date in 2009.  The Dutch company had been established by the two in 1993, showcasing the work of Dutch innovators internationally.  Since that time, Droog  pioneered a new direction for design.and launched the careers of many star designers including Marcel Wanders, Tejo Remy and Jurgen Bay.  Iconic products like the "Infamous classics, 'A Chest of Drawers' and '85 lamps' redefined notions of luxury and design.".

"A Chest of Drawers" designed by Tejo Remy

"85 Lights Chandelier" designed by Rody Graumans

'The Rag Chair' by Tejo Remy



Irreconcilable differences over the direction of the company and money led the two to part ways.   Ramakers continues to work with over 200 artists, designers and architects worldwide on a range of products, ventures and events.  See all of their products and offerings at www.droog.com

Paolo Soleri

Paolo Soleri,a Visionary Architect and renaissance thinker, was born on this date in 1919 in Turin, Italy.  

He is best known for "Arcology," an urban theory based on the synthesis of architecture and ecology.  This concept advocates cities designed to maximize the interaction and accessibility associated with an urban environment, while minimizing the use of energy, raw materials, and land.  

Arcosanti (below), was a prototype town designed for 5,000 people based on Soleri's arcology theory. 

He was committed to this vision his entire career.  For over 50 years he designed and sold "Soleri Bells,"  unique cast-bronze wind-bells prized for their pure tone, to finance Arcosanti.

The Arcosanti project continues as students from all over the world attend 5 week workshops constructing buildings in Soleri's vision. 

(Soleri was inspired by his  fellowship with Frank Lloyd Wright (from 1947-1949) working at
Taliesin East in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona. During this time he gained international recognition for his bridge design now displayed at the Museum of Modern Art.)

Soleri died in 2013 at the age of 93.  

Charles Eames

Renowned Architect, Furniture Designer and Industrial Designer Charles Eames was born on this day in 1907 (died 1978).  He and his wife, Ray, were among America's most celebrated designers.  They believed that a house should be flexible enough to accommodate both work and play.

"Recognizing the need, is the primary condition for design."  This drove a lot of the Eameses work.  Early in their careers they saw the need for affordable, high-quality furniture for the average consumer.  For forty years the two experimented with ways to meet this challenge, designing flexibility into their compact storage units, and collapsible sofas for the home, and seating for virtually anywhere and everywhere.  Many chairs were designed for Herman Miller in four materials - molded plywood, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, bent and welded wire mesh and cast aluminum.

One of the most famous of these chairs was/is the DSR chair (Dining - height, Side -chair, Rod - base.)
Designed in 1948 this chair has a chrome base, often referred to as the "Eiffel" Chair.  It was one of a series, all with the same seat shell, first from fiberglass now made from polypropylene.

In 1999, Time Magazine declared the Eames Lounge Chair Wood (the LCW) the greatest design of the 20th century.  This chair was originally created in 1945, when Charles was designing plywood splints for the US Air Force.  After several experiments, the Eameses came up with this design using two separate pieces of plywood joined by plywood spine.

This Lounge Chair and Ottoman was designed in 1956 for the Herman Miller Company and is still considered to be one of the most comfortable seats ever made.

Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman
Available today at Herman Miller http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/lounge-seating/eames-lounge-chair-and-ottoman.html

The Eameses designed this Case Study House #8 (which was an experimental program in American residential Architecture sponsored by Arts & Architecture Magazine) which was one of the first modern pre-fabricated homes.

For more information on these influential designers of the 1950's check out this great Life Magazine
article.  http://life.time.com/culture/charles-and-ray-eames-photos-of-the-legendary-designers-in-1950/#1

Jim Dine

Pop Artist Jim Dine was born on June 16, 1935 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He gained national recognition in 1962 when his work was included in the ground breaking exhibition "New Painting of Common Objects" along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Edward Ruscha.  This exhibition was historic as it was the first "Pop Art" show in America.  These painters started a movement, in a time of social unrest, which shocked the Art World and America and changed Modern Art forever.

Dine continues to sculpt, draw and paint, exhibiting worldwide!  His original work as well as his prints are seen in apartments, condos and homes everywhere adding color, energy and excitement to the spaces.

Larry Aldrich and Pierre Paulin...

Larry Aldrich was born on June 13, 1906.  He was a fashion designer, art collector and founder of The Aldrich Museum for Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Connecticut.(the first museum of it's kind devoted solely to innovative, contemporary art in America.)

Aldrich spent over 40 years as a fashion designer, creating collections for chic women, sharing the spotlight with Pauline Trigere and Geoffrey Beene.  He didn't intend to work in fashion, but a summer internship prior to entering law school that fall, forever altered the course of his life.  He opened his own firm in 1927, after his first collection proved to be a huge success.

In 1937 Aldrich began collecting paintings by Gauguin, Monet and others.  After he developed a friendship with Alfred H. Barr, Jr., the first director of the Museum of Modern Art, he looked to less-known artists and purchased each work for a maximum of $1,000.  He gave all of these (112 works of art) to the Museum.  He did the same with the Whitney Museum from 1963-1970.   In 1963, Aldrich established his own museum.  He sold his extensive collection of masterpieces from Picasso, Miro, Paul Klee and others (raising more than $1.3 million) to fund the building.  In 1964, the museum opened to the public in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Aldrich always saw a natural connection between art and fashion, even producing a dress collection in 1964 inspired by Op Art.  In 1966, he sold his design business and focused solely on his museum, naming Alfred Barr, Philip Johnson and Joseph Hirschhorn to the board of directors. Over the next few decades, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art promoted the works of lesser-known artists and continues today to showcase revolutionary pieces and people.

Aldrich died at the age of 95 on October 25, 2001.

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Pierre Paulin died on this date in 2009.  He was a French furniture designer best known for his chair designs.
Paulin was born on July 9 1927 in Paris.  He achieved famed while working at the studio of Marcel Gascoin when he exhibited his work at the 1953 Ideal Home Exhibition.  In 1958 Artifort hired Paulin and began producing contemporary furniture.  He developed a variety of seat "shells" from 1960 to 1970 made of molded wood lined with foam and prefabricated stretch fabric covers in bright colors.  His iconic chairs included the Mushroom, Flesh Tongue and Ribbon.  His designs are still sought after today by collectors.  His work can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, the George Pompidou Center in Paris and The Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Below is the Butterfly Chair in cowhide.  Shop at Hive Modern for Pierre Paulin's designs.  

 http://hivemodern.com/search-hive.php?search_terms=pierre+paulin

Tony Duquette, Extravagent and Extraordinary

Tony Duquette was born on June 11^th  and died at the age of 85 in 1999.  He was best known for his over-the-top style in set, interior and jewelry design.  His long-time business partner said this upon his death - "He was the only man who could spend $999 in a 99-cent store."

In his Hollywood Hills Studio, a roomful of 18^th century French Antiques sat amid gilded trees beneath a ceiling studded with glued-on gold plastic serving trays.  His talent for overdoing it was appreciated by clients who had acquired their own sense of the grandiose, among them Vincente Minnelli, Doris Duke, Mary Pickford, J. Paul Getty, David O. Selznick and the Duchess of Windsor. 

 

He was born in Los Angeles, the oldest of four children.  He was very artistic from an early age.   He entertained his siblings with a puppet show of "Schederazade," making all the costumes himself.  The toy houses he built were romantically lit with birthday candles.  After attending the Chouinard Art Institute he worked first as a designer for Bullock's Department Store and then as a freelance for Hollywood designers Billy Haines and James Pendleton.    

Mr. Duquette liked to say that he was discovered by Lady Mendl (who had become famous as an interior decorator as Elsie de Wolfe) when, in her 80's, she decamped from her villa in France to a villa in Los Angeles to avoid the war.

''I want you to make me a meuble,'' Lady Mendl commanded, putting the word ''furniture'' into French, after admiring a jewel-bedecked plaster and glass centerpiece that Mr. Duquette had designed for a dinner party.

Impressed with the result, a black-lacquered secretary with Moors set against a mirrored background festooned with Venetian glass flowers, she began to promote her new discovery to clients, friends and influential editors. Their collaboration lasted until her death, in 1951. Mr. Duquette became president of the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation and at the time of his death he was organizing an auction of the foundation's Elsie de Wolfe collections, to be held at Christie's in Los Angeles next week.

Excerpts from NYTimes Obituary, September 14, 1999

Andre Derain - Fauvist Painter and Sculptor

The uber-colorful, Fauvist painter Andre Derain was born on this day, June 10, 1880 on the outskirts of Paris, France.

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  He met Henri Matisse while studying to be an engineer at the Academie Camillo.  During the summer of 1905, the two painted together and then exhibited their highly innovative pieces at the Salon D'Automne.  The art critic Louis Vauxcelles described their paintings as Les Fauves or "the wild beasts" because of the vivid, unnatural colors and the Fauvist Period was launched.

Derain was commissioned by noted art dealer Ambroise Vollard to travel to London in 1906 and compose a series of paintings with the city as his subject.  His interpretation of London was fresh, daring and had never been seen before.  Through the use of bold colors and unusual compositions, he portrayed the Thames River and Tower Bridge in exciting new ways.

This beautiful painting - Charing Cross Bridge London 1906 - was exemplary of the daring that he exhibited.

The Big Ben - 1906 - demonstrated his ability to use pointillist techniques.

Derain's financial stability was secured in 1907 when art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler purchased his entire studio, allowing him the freedom to devote himself wholeheartedly to his art.  He then moved to Montemarte to be closer to his friend Pablo Picasso.  During this next significant phase of his life, he shifted away from his Fauvist roots (and color palette) and began using more muted tones (like those used by Paul Cezanne and the Cubists.)  According to Gertrude Stein,  Derain discovered and was influenced by African sculpture before the Cubists were.  Derain supplied woodcuts in primitivist style for Apollianaire's first book of prose in 1909.

Below is one of his most famous sculptures - Crouching Man, 1906.

Window on the Park 1912

Portrait of a Man With a Newspaper 1914

In 1912, Derain's style evolved yet again, embracing a more tradtional and structured approach to painting. He frequented the Louvre and studied works by many of the Renaissance artists, the Old Masters.  Between 1914-1918  he served during World War I .  When he returned home he became the leader of the renewed classicism movement and even created elaborately traditional sets for the Ballet - Le Boutique Fantasque for Diaghilev, leader of the Ballets Russes.  

The 1920's saw his works exhibited all over the world.  He created many more set and costumes designs for the Paris Opera during the 1930's  He continued to paint, design sets and illustrate books up until the time of his death, despite his failing eyesight.  Derain was struck by a car and killed in 1954.

Paul Gauguin

June 7th, 2013

Happy Birthday to Post-Impressionist and Primitive artist Paul Gauguin. His color palette has been a source of inspiration for many designers for decades.   He was born on June 7, 1848 (died May 8, 1903) in Paris France.  Gauguin spent his early years living in Peru with his mother's family and it was there that his early appreciation of art began. (The imagery and costumes of Lima would later influence his art.)   In 1865 He joined the Merchant Navy and then returned to Paris in 1872 where he became a successful stock broker.

Gauguin became fascinated with the Impressionists after seeing an exhibit in 1874.  He purchased paintings by Monet, Manet, Pissarro and Renoir. Shortly thereafter he began painting in earnest.  For a brief time he worked with Pissarro and then Cezanne. 

                                 Still Life with Peaches 1889

After spending a short period with Vincent Van Gogh in Arles (1888), Gauguin increasingly abandoned imitative art for expressiveness through colour.

From 1891, he lived and worked in Tahiti and elsewhere in the South Pacific.  During his first stay there (he was to leave in 1893, only to return in 1895 and remain until his death,) Gauguin discovered primitive art, with its flat forms and the violent colors belonging to an untamed nature.  He then transferred that to canvas.

Savage Tales (Contes Barbares) was painted during his second sojourn in French Polynesia.  He migrated back as his distaste and discouragement with the European civilization grew.  Gauguin embarked on a quest to discover "supposedly noble savages, sensual "otherness" and an emotionally intense existence at the far edge of the world."  In this work, two Polynesian women sit serenely in an Eden-like garden.  The woman on the left sits in the lotus position, recalling Gauguin's fascination with the Buddha.  Flattened, simplified forms reinforce an exotic combination of blues, red-browns, pink and other unusual colors, which blend together like notes of music.  The results go beyond the naturalism of Impressionist painting to suggest a realm of mystery, symbolism and inward thoughts.

Savage Tales (Contes Barbares) 

His work dismayed even his closest friends when it was first shown in Europe. Gauguin's style wielded enormous influence on the early twentieth century avant-garde (Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse,) and his unswerving belief in the visionary purity of painting served as a source of inspiration for many followers.  

Gauguin died alone in 1903, nearly out of money.  It wasn't until years later that his work received great praise and demanded high prices.  

Today many stylemakers look to Gauguin for design inspiration and a palette from which to pull colors for textiles, accessories and artwork.  Joss and Main, a leading on-line resource for unique home furnishings, hosted a sale this week devoted to Gauguin and French Polynesia.