Thread: Pinakothek der Moderne - Part 2

Originally Posted by derekcohen

The Eames brothers - Ray and Charles ......

Hi Derek,

FYI, Ray and Charles were not brothers but husband and wife. Ray (Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames) being the missus.

Thanks for the tour and I prefer your Round Chair with the rope seat to the original.


Cheers,
Mike

Derek,
when you were in Vienna did you go to the MAK?
They've got a fair bit of Wiener Werkstatte stuff there, which is the precursor to Art Deco and Bauhaus. They've got a lot of chairs too, as well as furniture from the early 1900s.
I was lucky enough to visit there a couple of years ago when their temporary exhibition had a lot of info about restoring wooden window frames and the use of (linseed) oil based paints.

Regards
SWK

Originally Posted by Belstaff1464

Hi Derek,

FYI, Ray and Charles were not brothers but husband and wife. Ray (Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames) being the missus.

Thanks for the tour and I prefer your Round Chair with the rope seat to the original.


Cheers,
Mike

Yeah .... since everyone has been letting me know! I never knew.

At Munich airport

Derek

Derek

Thanks for posting the pix. I have not seen an original close up before.

I can add a little information about the Red Blue Chair of Gerrit Rietveldt. It was first produced in 1917 as an affordable chair for the masses. At that time most chairs were of traditional joinery construction. All the joints in his chair were made with concealed dowels. However, there is one joint that has to be fudged as the three way union requires a through dowel. The original chair was constructed with a natural finish look. My information is that the red/blue version did not appear until 1924. Rietveldt became associated with the De Stijl movement around 1919 and it was that fact which led to the dramatic colouring. I have just checked up and the red/blue version could have first appeared any time between 1920 and 1923.

The black frame was stained and varnished and the other three colours were painted.

I made a couple of these chairs quite a while back for our children, but both have come back to us (the son is overseas and the daughter doesn't have the room in her flat) and one is in daily use. Consequently, and in particular as it sits outside on the porch, which is only partly shielded from the weather, it now needs repainting.

P1040022 (Medium) (2).JPG

Actually that pic is from two years ago.

The chair is quite small and although surprisingly comfortable, SWMBO made cushions for those without too much padding of their own. This is the chair today.

Red Blue chair (Medium).JPG

Time has not improved it's appearance.

This is the joint that has to be fudged:

P1040013.jpg

At some stage I will make up a Zig Zag chair.

Regards
Paul

Thanks for sharing Derek.

While on chairs, my favourite exhibit is in the Design Museum of 'Danmark' in Copenhagen. It chronicles the history of the development of modern chair design with an extensive and well laid out display. I can recommend it to you or anyone else interested in furniture design.

THE DANISH CHAIR - Design Museum Denmark

The museum also has an extensive collection of traditional Japanese design that points to its influence on 20th century western designers.

Pinakothek der Moderne - Part 2 POST SCRIPT



Lynndy and I were about to board the plane from Munich to Singapore when we came face-to-face with this glass cabinet ... filled with miniature chairs (each about 2" high) ..








The detailing on these was amazingly good ...











Imagine .. who needs to visit the Pinakothek der Moderne!


Regards from Perth


Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

who needs to visit the Pinakothek der Moderne!

everyone with an interest in great design

About 20 years ago from memory, there was an exhibition of those chairs in Sydney.

Originally Posted by ian

everyone with an interest in great design

Ian, thanks for writing this. I posted this thread at WoodCentral and SMC, the two other forums I frequent. Only posts here have demonstrated an interest in design. I was wondering whether I should bother with part three, since there is a lot of work involved.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Ian, thanks for writing this. I posted this thread at WoodCentral and SMC, the two other forums I frequent. Only posts here have demonstrated an interest in design. I was wondering whether I should bother with part three, since there is a lot of work involved.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Please continue, Derek. I, for one, have really enjoyed this series and it has stirred some important memories.

My interest in design and woodwork was sparked by a visit to the Museum of Fine Art, Boston in 1980 and their Please be Seated exhibition. Back in the mid-1970's the MFA generously commissioned about twenty of the most prominent designer/makers in America to produce a chair for exhibition, and the visitors to the Museum were permitted, no encouraged, to sit in the chairs. People such as Sam Maloof and Wendell Castle responded and the exhibition was so successful that it became part of the MFA's permanent collection. You cannot really appreciate the quality of a Sam Maloof chair unless you sit in it and feel the silky texture of the finish and how the chair caresses your bum. Until I experienced, not saw, this exhibition, I never suspected that a bunch of chairs could have a place in a major museum, alongside their Rembrandts and Renoirs. Design is a major art!


Cheers

Graeme

Yes, please continue, Derek.

I’m keen to see some more design on here anytime.
I also visited The Museum of Fine Art in Boston in late 1983.
On the same trip I dropped in on Sam Malouf, Wendel Castle, Don McKinley,Art Carpenter, James Krenov and stayed with Garry Bennett for a week in Oakland.
I was in the middle of doing the ‘Wood’ program at Canberra School of Art.
In the course we had no exposure to any designers other than George.
I used to attend the local CAE where Michael Bogle was doing a night lecture on furniture design.
I’d seen all these North American Woodworkers in Fine Woodworking and so wrote them as I was going to Canada to meet my wife’s family. They all replied and said sure come and visit.
Garry didn’t reply but on my arrival in SFA I rang him. His main concern was ‘Do you drink beer?’
Was fun staying with him and helping him in his Alameda workshop.
Next person I visited just up the Coast was James Krenov at Fort Bragg, I think he was quite taken aback that I’d just come from Garry’s.
Garrys ‘Nail’ piece was still a bit raw for him.
H.

Originally Posted by clear out

I’m keen to see some more design on here anytime.
I also visited The Museum of Fine Art in Boston in late 1983.
On the same trip I dropped in on Sam Malouf, Wendel Castle, Don McKinley,Art Carpenter, James Krenov and stayed with Garry Bennett for a week in Oakland.
I was in the middle of doing the ‘Wood’ program at Canberra School of Art.
In the course we had no exposure to any designers other than George.
I used to attend the local CAE where Michael Bogle was doing a night lecture on furniture design.
I’d seen all these North American Woodworkers in Fine Woodworking and so wrote them as I was going to Canada to meet my wife’s family. They all replied and said sure come and visit.
Garry didn’t reply but on my arrival in SFA I rang him. His main concern was ‘Do you drink beer?’
Was fun staying with him and helping him in his Alameda workshop.
Next person I visited just up the Coast was James Krenov at Fort Bragg, I think he was quite taken aback that I’d just come from Garry’s.
Garrys ‘Nail’ piece was still a bit raw for him.
H.

I think I hate you.

I would kill to have met those builders and seen .. touched ... their work!

I do wish you would tell us more about them.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I visited the Boston MFA last year, and agree, it's well worth the time. I also visited the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian in Washington DC. While a large part of it was closed for renovations, those things that were on exhibition were excellent. I'll post som photos later.