LURCH BY BAILEY FONTAINE

With a focus on its production, Bailey Fontaine designed Lurch as a different approach to the floor lamp. Lurch evokes the glow of hot glass while it is being blown, and the precarity of glassblowing itself, requiring balance at each point to make the glass come out correctly. Made from hand blown glass and brass, Lurch has a custom electrical cord which gives it an midcentury feel with a contemporary edge.
 

SET OF NORMAN CHERNER FOR PLYCRAFT DINING CHAIRS

Norman Cherner is known for utilizing postwar innovations in technology to design wooden furniture previously impossible. However, Cherner was not alone in the bentwood era. Ray and Charles Eames, George Nelson, and others were producing bentwood furniture of their own. Most designs, however, were fragile or relied on metal support structures to take the strain of a sitter’s weight. Cherner’s design stands out for its durability and elegance. Reupholstered in italian cowhide, these chairs offer a firm seat with a satiny feel. 

TIME BY CAMILLA TAYLOR

Camilla Taylor’s triptych entitled Time references both its accumulation of material and the process of making. Using offcuts of other works, Taylor adhered these pieces of paper in layers, much like the scales of fish. Her arrangement of color creates the illusion of a receding picture plane. This underscores the idea of objects receding from us in time. Featuring a subdued texture and color palette, Time is an artwork that would fit perfectly in most homes.

SET OF DUX DINING CHAIRS

JENS RISOM MODEL 37 SOFA

WORKING I BY LINC THELEN

WORKING II BY LINC THELEN

SET OF MILO BAUGHMAN OPEN BACK LOUNGE CHAIRS

WITHOUT WORDS BY SARA PITTMAN

SET OF ARNE JACOBSEN SWAN CHAIRS

HANS WEGNER ROYAL BLUE ROCKER

SCATTERED FLOES BY NICHOLAS KRIEFALL

DUX SOFA

SET OF IB KOFOD-LARSEN LOUNGE CHAIRS

NICHE BY JEAN ALEXANDER FRATER

NOTHING IS PERMANENT BY JUDY COX

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS BY JUDY COX

LITTLE BLUE CABOOSE BY JUDY COX

SCALLOPS BY LINC THELEN

LOUNGE CHAIR BY HOVMAND OLSEN

SET OF ADRIAN PEARSALL WINGBACK CHAIRS + OTTOMANS

The history of the wingback chair goes back at least as far as the 17th century. Its original purpose was to keep out the drafts of cold air while sitting by the fire. Since then, it has come a long way, and because of its unusual shape, many designers have used it as a chance to elaborate on their distinct forms. This Model 2231-C Wingback Chair with ottomans is no exception. Pearsall’s Atomic Age shapes beautifully compliment the wingback format. His fusion of traditional woodworking with dynamic lines created a timeless piece of American furniture that would look good in nearly any home.

NIELS BENDTSEN COFFEE TABLE

Niels Bendtsen is a Danish-Canadian designer whose education traces back to Jacob Kjær, the designer of the FN chair used at the United Nations. Niels Bendtsen’s father studied directly with Kjær, while Niels apprenticed in his father’s cabinet making shop. Although Bendtsen’s design focuses much more on using metal and glass, it is easy to see the Danish tradition in his pieces. Tight curves accentuate a restrained, minimal design. Because he can rely on the strength of the materials, the table itself has thin, reduced parts that create an elegant structure that both frames and supports the piece. This table has been refinished in a vibrant fuschia that accentuates its futuristic character.  

TUMBLEWEED BY MAURA SEGAL

Maura Segal is an artist working out of Los Angeles, California. Drawing inspiration from the contrasting natural and developed landscapes, she paints canvases that articulate these unions. The layers of Segal’s paintings are most telling, featuring a bed of hand cut pieces of paper that get painted over. These subtly collaged pieces are scattered like stray plants in the desert. Segal then paints squares and rectangles of various sizes to further cut up or distribute the field. On some of her paintings, layers of thinly cut paper are attached that mimic the flight of a bee as much as a network of highways and roads. These processes confuse the notions of natural and developed through their depiction of shapes. In doing so, Maura Segal has found a unique way to tap into her environment and unravel the strangeness of it.

SLEEP BY TED STANUGA

Wrapping his composition with frothy, energetic brushstrokes; Stanuga’s Sleep supports itself through the tension in its lines. Wide, rigid brush strokes of varying transparency connect across the picture to form spaces where washes of light grey and deep blue flow. Spindly, bent lines contrast a net of ribbonlike forms. Below them, converging planes overlay a foggy atmosphere. Stanuga’s refined sensibility from decades of painting is made clear in this work on paper. 

SET OF ADRIAN PEARSALL LOUNGE CHAIRS

Often overshadowed by Kagan and Noguchi, Pearsall doesn’t get quite the same recognition for his groundbreaking designs of the 1960s. After selling Craft Associates to Lane Furniture Company in 1968, Pearsall went on to form Comfort Designs with John Graham. Drifting away from the Atomic Age design’s preference for free flowing wood and glass, Pearsall moved into solid, angular geometry consistent with futuristic styles of the 1980s. Reupholstered in vintage linen velvet, these two lounge chairs have a rich, saturated color whose linear forms respond elegantly to light.

HARVEY PROBBER ROSEWOOD DRESSER

Harvey Probber took on the second half of the 20th Century quite differently from Pearsall, focusing instead on simple geometric shapes made with elegant materials. While never stylistically approaching the forms that other avant-garde designers were interested in, Probber pioneered the concept of modular furniture. His furniture is carefully designed to interact dynamically with other geometries in both the room and furnishings. Some of his more iconic pieces, like the Cubo sofa, show how simple rectangles, stacked on top of each other, form an elegantly rectilinear sofa. This rosewood dresser from the 1960s operates on the same design principles. Masterful craftsmanship, alongside beautiful proportions create a simple, understated, but wholly beautiful piece of furniture. 

CHICAGO VINTAGE 1980 BOXING PHOTOS

Phil Mascione’s dynamic composition draws your eye through the picture with the angled lines of the building’s walls. He has skillfully positioned the camera to include figures on each edge of this photograph. A musician warms up in the background, a distracted boxing coach has a conversation to the right, and a discerning spectator eyes the boxer for the far left. Each figure in this photograph draws you back to the subject, the boxer preparing for his match. In a striking way, Phil Mascione manages to convey the drama of the moment in one frame.

LAWRENCE PEABODY FOR RICHARDSON NEMSCHOFF SETTEE

The smooth forms of Lawrence Peabody are instantly recognizable. His rhythmic, elegant lines often give the feeling of a bend, rather than a curve. During his design career, Lawrence Peabody spent much of his time designing for the notable companies Kohler, Sears, Roebuck & Company, Richardson Brothers, and Boyd Lighting while also designing hotels in the US and Caribbean. However, his most refined, enduring work was made for the Richardson Nemschoff furniture company. This settee exemplifies Peabody’s ability to incorporate swooping, graceful curves into bold, well rounded design.

CENDESE PULCINO SCULPTURE

For this piece, Antonio da Ros worked with the Murano glass factory Ars Cendese. The factory itself is part of the rich glassmaking history of Murano. Glass production on Murano started over a millennium ago in 982. During the Renaissance, the production of new types of glass, most notably crystal clear glass, increased demand greatly. Subsequently, the skillfully crafted Murano glass was highly sought after by the upper class of Europe. The Murano glass factories survived the end of the Venetian Republic, starting a new push to develop the art of glasswork even further. Murano’s history of technical mastery in ornate, elegant colored glass shines in this Antonio da Ros sculpture.