I just went to the "Shaping The Future" exhibition that's running here in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Center. It's apparently a "major" exhibition (it's split between the Walker and the Minneapolis Instutute of Arts), but the Walker installation (supposidly comprising of the furniture) was something of a disappointment.
There were only a handful of pieces on display:
1 Grasshopper chair without the ottoman in solid blue hopsack fabric and the plywood is the dark (walnut, I think)
1 large marble Tulip conference or dining table that is not real old
1 Tulip side chair in black
1 Tulip armchair in white with the standard red hopsack cushion (looks new 'cause the base is glossy)
1 Organic chair with the wood legs
1 Womb chair and ottoman with the most standard, boring oatmeal fabric
1 high back Organic longue chair with the wood legs
1 leather armchair on a chrome base that I could identify (and there was no informative plate for this chair)
That's it.
No Tulip stool
No Tulip small round or oval side table
No Tulip coffee table
None of the side or armchairs...you know, the upholstered ones or the side chairs with the plastic back
No Womb settee
I realize that Saarinen didn't do alot of furniture, but there should've been more.
I also bought the accompanying book, which only has a 12 page chapter on Saarinen's furniture. There's some smallish photos of some cool prototypes and some nifty more detailed quotes from Florence Knoll about Saarinen's beginnings at Knoll.
So, I saw the exhibition and got the book, but I'm actually a bit disappointed.
I may be wrong
But isn't Eero's significance the role he played in the development of American architecture post WWII? Given the scope of his projects - from TWA to Dulles to the Gateway Arch it seems understandable that his furniture wouldn't generate as much attention. While the work with Eames in the Organic competition was significant, Eames was the one who developed it further - bringing the shell chair to the masses. The most significant piece (imho) is the Tulip Table. The table alone distilled the pedestal table to its beautiful, graceful essence.
Yes
But, aside from the Tulip collection, Saarinen's furniture didnt reach nearly the audience that Eames' did. The average person on the street can usually tell you that Eames was a furniture designer. The same person will most likely know Saarinen for architecture.
I'm not trying to discredit Saarinen for his furniture, but I dont think it warrants as much attention as his architecture does. His process as an architect, his use of architecture for corporate identity, his focus on the function of each larger space - creating a unity between the micro & the macro, sets him much farther beyond his development of a few pieces of furniture.
True enough, Luc, but I was hoping
that the exhibition would've had a room setting with a grouping of Saarinen Tulip pieces, and some more prototypes.
Saarinen did not design that many pieces of furniture, but what he did design were absolutely iconic classics.
Discounting Florence Knoll, who designed pieces as she needed them, at Knoll, only Jens Rissom specifically designed an array of pieces that were approaching the scale of quantity that the Eameses or George Nelson designed for Herman Miller.
Saarinen only designed specific individual pieces, as well as his Tulip group. He didn't design standard sofas and tables like the Eameses and Nelson did.
Other designers (Poul Kjaerholm, Paul McCobb, Milo Baughmann, Alvar Aalto, Paul Evans, et all) designed 'collections' of whole rooms full of furniture. When Florence Knoll was quote that she did the fill-in pieces because Saarinen, Platner and Bertoia did "the star" pieces, she wasn't kidding (although she didn't give herself enough credit for the high quality and beauty of her stuff)!
First of all......
Saarinen was a female. I think several of you have refered to her as "HE" or "HIM".
But asside from that... Does anyone have any information or know if this is a real womb chair or prototype? They are claiming this is a first year production chair, but no where can I find anything that back up that statement. Any help would be great!
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