Studio Furniture in the Great Northwest

Here is a good companion piece to the Christie's 20th Century Design sales results I just posted.

Fellow appraiser Kathi Jablonsky forwarded a very nice article from from the Seattle Times on Studio Furniture and collector/appraiser Margaret Minnick. Margaret discusses and reveals her love for studio furniture and how she has been collecting and educating on the style for many years. Margaret, as an expert on the topic contributed an article for the Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies -2008 on studio furniture. As I have mentioned on the AW Blog in the past, 20th Century/Mid Century design is such a growing aspect of collecting within the decorative arts, and appraisers have to stay current not only with the major market makers and recongnized artists, but also with the second tier artisans. There are many artisan who are exceptional in their craft but may not yet have the necssary name recognition. Contemporary and modern art as we all know is extremely valuable at the top end of the market. The sales draw the rich and famous and are covered by the main stream media. There is now upward pressure on 20th century design for the decorative arts as well. I expect to see more and more pieces like this Seattle Times article in the future.

The article states Studio furniture consists of exquisitely designed pieces of excellent craftsmanship and materials created with a well-reasoned approach. Or, as Minnick puts it, "You could put a piece upside down or backward and it would still be beautiful."

Fine-furniture-making is a tradition as old as this country. But studio furniture, as unique as its maker, evolved much later — beginning in the East with Wharton Esherick in 1930 and out here around 1940 with Sam Maloof in California and George Nakashima, who was raised in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington.

The article continues Monroe, who was curator of the Renwick Gallery in the Smithsonian Institution's American Art Museum, points out, "These are not impulse items. These are long-term decisions. And when they're making a dining-room table with six chairs, that's a long-term decision. The makers can't afford to do a lot of pieces on speculation."

The article also gives short profiles on 6 Great Northwest studio furniture artist, such as Evert Sodergren, Stewart Wurtz, and Ken Richards.

To read the Seattle Times article, click HERE.