Edward Wormley (1907-95) was born and grew up near Chicago, Illinois. He spent his high-school years enrolled in interior design courses through correspondence courses, having a keen interest in design. After attending the Art Institute of Chicago and running out of money to continue, in 1928 he obtained employment at Marshall Fields where he…Continue reading Edward Wormley: Mid Century Mainstream
Series: Lesser Known Designers
Paul McCobb
[1]Paul McCobb (June 5, 1917 – March 10, 1969), like a few other famous American designers, did not start out creating furniture. He desired the life of an artist and studied drawing and painting at the Vesper George School of Art in Boston, Massachusetts. Although in actuality art and design intimately embrace, art schools rarely…Continue reading Paul McCobb
William Haines: Hooray for Hollywood?
William (Billy) Haines started out as an actor in the early days of Hollywood and starred in quite a few films, both silent and sound. His career in film lasted from 1922 through 1936 and he quit acting in 1935. Known for a relationship he had with another man, Jimmy Shields, the stories vary as…Continue reading William Haines: Hooray for Hollywood?
Lesser Known Designers: Augusto Bozzi
Augusto Bozzi was an Italian designer who created works for the firm of Saporiti. Except for the following images, I know nothing else of this designer. However, his designs are prolific and easily obtainable. The following is a quote from the Saporiti website. “The ’50s. The reconstruction. The ‘Mayor’ chair. The Saporiti of this period…Continue reading Lesser Known Designers: Augusto Bozzi
Lesser Known Designers (Part 3): Vladimir Kagan
Vladimir Kagan was born in Germany in 1927, but emigrated to the US with his parents in 1938 as the result of the rise of fascism in that country. He started out with an interest in painting and sculpting, then went to the School of Industrial Art where he graduated in architecture in 1946. He…Continue reading Lesser Known Designers (Part 3): Vladimir Kagan
Lesser Known Designers (Part 2)
The Australian designer, Grant Featherston (1922-95) is unusual in that he was self-taught, with a wide range of experience in design. Inventive and unique, his constructions are without the theoretical baggage that many academically trained designers many times carry. Like another famous design couple, Grant’s wife Mary completed a dynamic duo that finished a wide…Continue reading Lesser Known Designers (Part 2)
Lesser Known Designers (Part 1)
Sven Ivar Dysthe is a Norwegian designer especially known for the 1001 Armchair from 1959. His designs are firmly in the trend of Scandinavian furniture designs, mainly wood and fabric, sleek and mainly rectilinear. Many of his designs fulfill a commercial function in that they are expandable to sofas or quite amenable to use in…Continue reading Lesser Known Designers (Part 1)