Mid Century Modern Art Music

Mid-Century Modern by Cara Greenberg (Author) This highly praised celebration of '50s design recalls the wonders of boomerang-shaped coffee tables, the funky curvaceousness of biomorphic furniture, the industrial sleekness of cool metals, and other design delights. "Will undoubtedly foster a new appreciation of furniture from the '50s."--Chicago Sun-Times... (more)

Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of the Twentieth Century by Pat Kirkham (Author) Charles and Ray Eames, perhaps the most famous design partnership of twentieth-century America, did pioneering work in furniture, film, architecture, and exhibition design. Out of respect for Charles's wishes, no book on them was published during their lifetime. Now Pat Kirkham interprets their work in depth, probing the lives behind the designs and the nature of the collaboration. In researching this major work, Kirkham had full access to the Eames archive and cooperation from the Eameses' clients and associates... (more)

Work of Charles and Ray Eames by Donald Albrecht (Author) From the 1940s to the 1970s, the Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames practiced design at its most virtuous and its most expansive. Their furniture, toys, buildings, films, graphics, exhibitions, and books all aimed to improve society-not only functionally but also culturally and intellectually. The essays in this handsome and generously illustrated volume examine the Eameses' projects in the contexts of science, corporate patronage, and politics as well as those of modern design, architecture, and art... (more)

Objects of Design: The Museum of Modern Art by Bevin Cline (Author), et al, - Showcasing selected works from The Museum of Modern Art's superlative architecture and design collection, Objects of Design features a wide variety of industrial and domestic artifacts by great designers of the modern period, from early masters such as Hector Guimard, Frank Lloyd Wright and Josef Hoffmann to contemporary practitioners including Droog Design, Ettore Sottsas, Gaetano Pesce, Hella Jongerius and others... (more)

Eichler: Modernism Rebuilds the American Dream by Paul Adamson (Author) Modernist residential design was, in many ways, ideally suited to the everyday realities of 1950s American middle-class culture, and in California it meshed with the... (more)

Herman Miller: The Purpose of Design by John Berry (Author) In 1936, Herman Miller Inc. founder D. J. De Pree committed Herman Miller to "modern" furniture. The rest is history: their continuing collaboration with some of the giants of modern design has made Herman Miller synonymous with quality in design. Herman Miller examines the company's powerful contributions by looking at the problems that design can solve (more)

Knoll Furniture: 1938-1960 by Steven Rouland (Author), Linda Rouland (Author) In the 1940s and 1950s, Knoll Furniture became symbolic of the modern design movement. This book catalogs furniture produced by the Knoll Furniture Company of New York during its first two exciting decades. Over 270 illustrations present forms by such influential designers as Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Isamu Noguchi, George Nakashima, Jens Risom, Ralph Rapson, and others. (more)

Atomic Ranch by Michelle Gringeri-Brown (Author), Jim Brown (Photographer) Atomic Ranch At the close of World War II, during a time when the United States was suffused with optimism about the future, America began a love affair with the ranch house that lasted for the next twenty-five years. From the decidedly modern gable-roofed Joseph Eichler tracts in the San Francisco Bay area and butterfly wing houses in Palm Springs and Sarasota, Florida, to the unassuming brick or stucco L-shaped ranches and split-levels we see every day, midcentury ranches can be found all over the country ... (more)

Phaidon Design Classics (3 Volume Set) (Design Classics) by Editors of Phaidon Press (Author) PHAIDON DESIGN CLASSICS is the first comprehensive and authoritative collection of classic design objects. This beautifully illustrated three-volume set of books presents 999 industrially manufactured products, carefully selected by a group of experts. It is the first definitive illustrated sourcebook on the evolution of design to include such a wide scope of objects in detail. (more)

Blenko: Cool 50s & 60s Glass by Leslie Piña (Author) Recently, collectors have been scooping up Blenko designs from the company's middle years of production, the 1950s and 1960s. Three outstanding designers were responsible for the entire design repertoire of that era--Winslow Anderson, Wayne Husted, and Joel Myers. Over 675 color photographs of Blenko glass (courtesy of Blenko Visitors' Center Museum, the Huntington Museum of Art, and private collections), detailed captions, information about the designers, the never-before-published 1960 catalog, bibliography, and index make this book a valuable reference. (more)

Blenko Catalogs by Leslie Pina (Introduction) This reprint of twelve 1972-1983 Blenko Glass Company catalogs is the third in the trilogy covering Blenkos early and middle years. 1983 marks the beginning of the late?? period when the label was changed. Glass items from the early years of the 1940s through the 1960s have been the most popular with collectors of Blenko Glass, but interest in 1970s items is awakening... (more)

Blenko Catalogs, Then and Now: 1959-1961, 1984-2001 by Leslie A. Pina (Author) This book showcases the all-important 1959-1961 period in Blenko glass production. Also included are the later Blenko catalogs from 1984-2001. Essential for any Blenko lover! (more)

blenko-62-71.jpg Blenko Glass: 1962-1971 Catalogs by Leslie A. Pina (Editor) "Magnificent color, skilled craftsmanship and creative design make Blenko America's most colorful name in glass," touted a Blenko catalog advertisement. First begun in the late nineteenth century in Milton, West Virginia, Blenko remains one of the few glass factories in the United States where modern hand-blown glass is still in production. Recently, Blenko glass designs from the 1950s and 1960s have caught collectors' eyes... (more)

Calder: Gravity and Grace by Carmen Gimenez (Author) A beautifully produced monograph on one of the greatest sculptors of the twentieth century, Alexander Calder. Comprising a critical essay, a superb selection of colour plates, and invaluable documentation of the artist's writings, interviews, bibliography and exhibition history... (more)

The Essential Alexander Calder by Howard Greenfeld (Author) The American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was one of the most inventive and beloved artists of his time. He was best known for his mobiles--hanging, dangling, perfectly balanced innovative sculptures that twist and orbit in the breeze--and for his stabiles, stationary sculptures, often enormous, that grace and enliven public spaces around the world... (more)

Calder's Universe by Jean Lipman (Author) A reissue of an out-of-print volume that accompanied a 1976 exhibition, this profusely illustrated celebration of sculptor Alexander Calder's (1898-1976) life and work samples the diversified mediums in which he experimented. (more)

Sourcebook of Modern Furniture, Third Edition by Jerryll Habegger (Author) One of the best reference book on modern furniture. OVER 2,000 IMPORTANT PIECES arranged by type of furniture or fixture make this book the go-to guide for students and historians of modern furniture, as well as an essential tool for interior designers. Each entry gives the details of the design: date, model name or number, manufacturer, materials, and dimensions... (more)