Mexican Modernism – Furniture Design in Mexico – Part # 8

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One Mexican furniture designer and manufacturer that made a big splash back in the 1970’s was IDEA. This company designed unique furniture pieces combining small blocks of different types of wood with chrome and glass; their model range included elegant office furniture, a variety of cabinets, bars, room dividers, bookcases, lamps and many other gadgets. Their 2 showrooms were located in Mexico City. IDEA´s furniture pieces are easily recognizable; I have included some wonderful samples:

Diego Matthai, Mexican architect and designer is most likely our best representative for furniture designs that integrate modern materials such as chrome into vernacular Mexican forms. Matthai was a pupil of Mathias Goeritz, whose work was heavily influenced by the Bauhaus. Matthai has completed projects of all kinds: office buildings and apartments, private residences, shops, boutiques, malls, office interiors, clubs, restaurants, bars, monumental sculptures and murals. He has also designed jewelry, clothing, accessories and many others. Since the beginning of his career he developed a special interest in furniture design and furnishings. The iconic “Mexico Chair” from 1971 is probably his best-known furniture piece.

…to be continued in part # 9

Copyright © 2010 – 2012 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

Mexican Modernism – Furniture Design in Mexico – Part # 7

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6) Furniture manufactured by particular designers and Mexican furniture companies that have left us a legacy and should not be forgotten for their enriching contribution to Mexico’s Modernism Furniture Design History, like the Frank Kyle Gallery. Frank Kyle was an American sculptor and furniture designer from Minneapolis, but he mainly lived in California. Kyle moved to Mexico City in the early 1960’s; he married into a prominent Mexican family and opened a gallery where he exhibited his furniture and sculptures. Kyle´s furniture designs included elegant dining sets, chairs, tables, bamboo lamps and screens. One of his trademarks was the exceptional lacquer finish he provided to his furniture pieces… Below some samples:

The Muller’s Onix store, which was famous back in the 60’s until the 80’s for selling beautiful onyx decorative items and furniture, including small and large chess sets, sculptures, platters, bowls, plates and tables in different sizes. The store was located in Mexico City and owned by American Guy Muller, who was also known as “Mr. Onyx”. His beautifully handcrafted Onyx Tables are unique; you may still find them sometimes at Mexico City’s flea markets. A significant number of Muller´s tables and sculptures were sold to the US and Canada.

Founded in 1909 in the northern city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, the Compañía Manufacturera de Muebles La Malinche, S.A. was one of the pioneering furniture manufacturers in Mexico. “La Malinche” specialized in the production of rocking chairs and chairs in all kinds of woods (pine, mahogany, elm, cedar and beech). Their chairs were used almost at every Monterrey household and public spaces like schools, restaurants, hotels, canteens, etc. The company also produced complete living room sets, all sorts of cabinets, coffee tables, bedroom sets, dining rooms, etc. and was well known for its good quality and high manufacturing standards. Regrettably, the factory closed its doors in the early 1970’s. Their furniture designs are very popular among collectors all over Mexico.

…to be continued in part # 8

Copyright © 2010 – 2012 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

Mexican Modernism – Furniture Design in Mexico – Part # 6

Let´s recap on what I have written so far in my previous 5 posts about Mexican modernism concerning furniture design and the categories we are now able to define:

1) Early work influenced by neoclassicism, which catered to the Mexican bourgeoisie with Arturo Pani and the French-born brothers Roberto and Mito Block as the main players. These highly successful interior decorators became famous for their ironwork with a very clear French influence, mostly produced during the ’40s and ’50s. (Part #3)

2) The austere Bauhaus and International Style influenced furniture that appealed to intellectuals and a young entrepreneurial class, coming from modern designers like Luis Barragán and Clara Porset, Michael van Beuren and architects Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Francisco Artigas. (Part #1 + Part #5)

3) Furniture designers that developed their very own style, see Pepe Mendoza, William Spratling, Don S. Shoemaker (Part #4) and idiosyncratic figures like Pedro Friedeberg – to be discussed in this post in the Surrealist movement.

4) Outstanding glass mosaic furniture pieces designed by painters and Muralists like Juan O’Gorman with the flowering of the Mexican Muralist movement in the 40’s and 50’s. (Part #2)

One artist that was recognized for his mosaic furniture creations is Genaro Alvarez. The Genaro Alvarez Studio, (located in Mexico City) was known for its mosaic work in murals and floor designs as well as decorative furnishings such as lamps, trays and furniture using various types of natural rocks, semi-precious stones and glass mosaic, and his work is all hand-made. Genaro’s claim to fame was that he had developed a new concept on the manipulation of glass mosaic as an art expression. In the late 1950’s Alvarez was awarded the commission for the mosaic floor for the Hallmark Gift & Card Shop in Kansas City, Missouri. He became very popular and well-known among American collectors.

5) Unique furniture creations coming from the Surrealist movement in Mexico like José Horna’s work; a painter and sculptor of Spanish origin, who migrated with his wife, photographer Kati Horna to Mexico in 1939, after the fall of the Spanish Republic. Both, José and his wife Kati were active in the Surrealist movement in Mexico. José became a disciple of renowned Surrealist painter Remedios Varo, (of Spanish origin as well) and he also collaborated with famous British-Mexican Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington on several projects. Horna left us a legacy of fantastic wood carved sculptures, some furniture pieces, marionettes and toy houses.

Of course, I have to mention within the Surrealist movement our “enfant terrible” Pedro Friedeberg. Friedeberg was born in Italy as the son of German-Jewish parents, who migrated to Mexico when he was 3 years old. He began studying architecture but did not complete his studies as he started to draw designs against the conventional forms of the 1950’s, even completely implausible ones such as houses with artichoke roofs! However, his work caught the attention of German sculptor Mathias Goeritz who encouraged him to continue a career as an artist. Although his work finds echoes in two of the most exciting artistic movements of the 1960’s, POP and Op Art, it is more closely related to late Surrealism. In particular, it reveals his close contacts with the leading European surrealists who had also found refuge in Mexico: Leonora Carrington, Kati Horna, Edward James, Alice Rahon and Remedios Varo, who were irreverent, rejecting the social and political art which was dominant at the time. Friedeberg was also deeply inspired by Goeritz, especially his Dadaist tendencies, which found expression in the avantgarde group known as “The Fed-Up Ones” of the early 1960’s. The work of Friedeberg recombines all these influences into something completely, uniquely, and unmistakably his own.

Although Friedeberg is an accomplished painter, he is famous for his iconic furniture designs, notably the “Butterfly Chair” and the “Hand Chair”. Both pieces were originally designed in the 1960’s, a rejection of the International/Modernist aesthetic and functionalism.

After designing his first chair, Friedeberg went on to design tables, couches, and love seats. This body of work, along with Friedeberg’s obsessively crowded and meticulously detailed canvases, often included references to Tantric scriptures, Aztec codices, Catholicism, Hinduism, and symbols of the occult. By 1963 Friedeberg had also begun making entirely sculptural works of perversely distorted bodies with appendages taken from religious statuary found in antique shops and flea markets. Today, Pedro continues to produce the “Hand Chair” and the “Butterfly Chair” along with other furniture pieces. Regrettably, Friedeberg’s furniture work is plagued with copycats and replicas.

to be continued in part # 7

Copyright © 2010 – 2012 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

Mexican Modernism – Furniture Design in Mexico – Part # 5

Cuban-born furniture and interior designer Clara Porset is best known for her modern designs inspired by the local traditions of Mexico, her adopted homeland. Her many design interpretations on the “butaque”, a low, graceful type of chair, part of Mexico´s popular culture, was her trademark. In a similar vein, an ancient Mesoamerican sculpture inspired the look of her “Totonaca” chairs and sofas, considered landmarks of Mexican furniture design.

Porset won a prize in MoMA’s 1940 “Organic Design for Home Furnishing” contest and in 1946 the Artek-Pascoe furniture company exhibited and sold her work in New York. She was committed to fine craftsmanship, but she was equally a strong believer that well-designed furnishings could be made affordable. In the 1950’s she signed a contract to develop 2 collections of furniture for the office, along with numerous other designs for prestigious furniture manufacturer IRGSA (Industrias Ruíz Galindo, S.A.). These collections were highly successful and mass-produced for many years. Among her most applauded achievements is the outdoor furniture she designed and IRGSA manufactured in 1957 for the Pierre Marqués Hotel in Acapulco. Her work was widely produced by D.M. NACIONAL, DOMUS, S.A., Ruíz y Govea, etc. Porset also designed interiors for Mexico City’s first large-scale public housing project and she collaborated with some of the most representative Mexican architects of her time, including Luis Barragán, Max Cetto, Enrique Yánez and Mario Pani among others.

Edmund J. Spence was an American designer who made a career out of translating international modern styles for the U.S. market. Spence designed a successful blonde wood line made in Sweden and imported by Walpole Furniture of Massachusetts, and another furniture line called “Continental-American Collection“, which was manufactured back in 1953 by the Mexican furniture company Industria Mueblera, S.A., with the brand label “Industria Mueblera of Mexico – Ageless Furniture Edmund J. Spence Design”.

Spence’s design brilliance comes in with his ability to interpret the most important aspects of Mexican design but in a fancy Mid-Century Modern way. Below I have put together some samples from his “Continental-American Collection”:

American born Michael van Beuren was a former student at the influential Bauhaus school in Dessau, Germany during 1931-1932, even though he did not graduate. He moved to Mexico in 1937 and having difficulty to practice his profession as an architect without an official title, he dedicated himself to the design of furniture. In 1938 he started to design furniture together with his colleague from the Bauhaus time, German designer Klaus Grabe, for a small company they called Grabe van Beuren y Cía. In 1941 the MoMA organized the “Organic Design for Home Furnishings,” a competition which opened to design teams from Latin America. One of the winning entries in the contest was a Chaise Longue designed by the team Klaus Grabe, Morely Webb and Michael van Beuren. The winning submissions earned the prize of having their designs industrialized and sold by the Bloomingdale’s department store. Grabe soon left Mexico to settle in New York where he ran Klaus Grabe Inc. and pursued his quest for modern low-cost furniture.

Van Beuren founded DOMUS - his first furniture brand – and probably his best known in Mexico. In 1950 Fredderick T. van Beuren, Michael´s brother took over the workshop production envisioning the company´s growth potential to become a mass producing furniture factory. At that time the company dropped its name DOMUS to become Van Beuren S.A. de C.V. By the mid-50’s Van Beuren, S.A. de C.V. was already mass producing complete furniture lines and models. Clara Porset manufactured her designs for the US market through Michael van Beuren´s Company.

British architect Philip Guilmant, who had arrived in Mexico in 1954, joined the Van Beuren team in 1957. He greatly contributed to the success of the company with the design of 2 very well-known furniture lines: the Danish Collection (1957) and the simple and economic Pine Line (1958). By that time, the company was producing around 50 chairs per week… The Van Beuren brothers helped re-shape interior design across Mexico with mass produced industrial and affordable furnishings that found their way into countless homes and offices. Besides Domus, Van Beuren produced other furniture lines that were also very successful like Calpini (1951) and Decapóls (1961); the last one became very popular when marketed at the El Puerto de Liverpool department store chain. Production lines extended as well to other store chains like Salinas y Rocha and El Palacio de Hierro. However, in 1973 Michael Van Beuren sold the brand and factory to Singer.

…to be continued in part # 6

Copyright © 2010 – 2012 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

Mexican Modernism – Furniture Design in Mexico – Part # 4

William Spratling was an American-born silversmith and artist, best-known for his influence on 20th century Mexican silver design. He established a model for the artistic development and growth of the silver industry in Taxco and deserves the title “Father of Contemporary Mexican Silver”.

Spratling visited Mexico for the first time in 1926. He returned for summers over the next several years, and in 1929, he finally moved to Mexico. He quickly integrated himself into the Mexican art scene and became a friend and a strong proponent of the work of muralist Diego Rivera, for whom he organized an exhibition at the MoMA in New York. Using money received from commissions he organized for Rivera, Spratling purchased a home in Taxco, southwest of Mexico City. In 1931, the US Ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow, suggested to Spratling that the city of Taxco had been the site of silver mines for centuries, but had never been considered a location where jewelry and objects of silver were designed and made. Subsequently, Spratling hired an experienced goldsmith from Iguala who moved to Taxco and created silver jewelry of Spratling’s design. Other craftsmen joined Spratling’s shop and produced tin ware, copper items, textiles and furniture – all designed by Spratling. These earliest designs were based on pre-Columbian motifs as well as simple themes utilizing rope borders, strap designs and other such basic ideas. He often adopted the stylized animal motifs found in Mexican pottery and incorporated native materials such as amethyst and rosewood into his designs. The workshop grew far beyond Spratling’s expectations… By 1940 Spratling employed 300 artisans and Taxco had become a major tourist destination for those seeking silverwork. He began to export silver items to U.S. department stores including Neiman Marcus, Macy’s and Saks. Ironically, the 1940’s boom in Taxco silver production ultimately led to the downfall of Spratling’s company “Spratling y Artesanos”, which by 1946 went out of business. In 1951 Spratling founded a new company—William Spratling, S.A. and continued to work throughout the 1950’s and ’60’s. His designs were also produced by the Conquistador Company in Mexico City for a couple of years. One of the last things he was working on at his ranch in Taxco was the production of furniture for Marilyn Monroe.

Spratling’s silver designs have always been copied but now, perhaps because of the higher prices Spratling’s name commands I have seen an increasing number of William Spratling attributed furniture designs.

Don S. Shoemaker is in my opinion the most remarkable representative of Mexico Modernism furniture design. Don and his wife Barbara settled down in Santa Maria Guido, Morelia in 1951. He began producing wooden items, from jewelry boxes to sculptures and stunning pieces of furniture made of hardwoods grown in the local mountains. The first couple of years were less than easy and in 1955 the Shoemakers were forced to leave the country; their small enterprise was turned over to a cooperative which 2 years later went broke. Their life project continued when the Mexican government invited them to return to Morelia and the furniture workshop SEÑAL, S.A. was founded.

Don left us an unrivaled aesthetic legacy through his furniture designs; he developed his very own identity and style which remained evolving throughout his whole career maintaining the principles of high quality hand-craftsmanship and the intensive use of native Mexican exotic woods. His organic forms were unmatchable by any other furniture designer of his time. During his more than 3 decades of dedicated work Don designed a significant number of iconic furniture masterpieces, all produced in hardwoods, which he favored for their inherent strength, durability and magnificent beauty:

•Organic designs: the most unique Sling “folding” chair (an armchair with folding braces), his Sling “Sloucher” and “Swinger” chairs.

•Rectilinear designs: the “Parsons Line” including suites for every room.

•Coffee table designs: the “Cuerno”, “Sling”, “Elephant” Lounge and “Descanso” coffee tables.

•Dining room set designs: the “Sling” dining room set, cabinets and sideboards.

•Lounge and living room designs: the “Descanso” set and the “Pernos” Lounge set.

•Progressive designs: the famous stack-laminated “Diamond” desk and tables.

Below are some pictures from my personal Don S. Shoemaker collection, a look into the Shoemaker mood when you have a home completely furnished by our master:

Don´s heir, George R. Shoemaker, takes over the company in 1990, after Don passed away. Regrettably George faced some serious problems with characters related with SEÑAL, S.A. which started producing unlicensed copies; so the company had to be dissolved and changed its name to “ARRENDADORA SHOEMAKER”. George continued reproducing Don´s designs under this new label; he improved some of Don´s furniture lines and he developed some own new furniture designs. One of George´s masterpieces are his iconic Bar furniture sets produced in cueramo, he only made a limited edition of 5 of them. However, I will not present at this time any pictures of this magnificent Bar Set to avoid future forgeries.

Unfortunately, George´s health declines extremely fast and production activity goes to almost zero. George passes away and the workshop finally closes in the early 2000’s. Many George R. Shoemaker furniture pieces are copied and sold as “Don S. Shoemaker originals” not recognizing George´s talent and contribution to his Dad´s work. He was a great designer by his own right. He had a restless mind and he also experimented in Art Nouveau, Art Deco and even English XIX Century styles.

Po Shun Leong is an artist, former architect, sculptor and furniture maker. Of Chinese origin, Leong was born in London and lived in Mexico for 15 years. He arrived in Mexico in 1964. For several years, he practiced architecture, designing a series of large furniture stores, residences and commercial exhibitions. He developed many furniture designs and was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Knoll International Furniture Competition, 2 Gold Medal Awards for fiberglass furniture in the IMCE, (Mexican Export Competition) and two 1st prizes in the low cost furniture competition.

In the early 1980’s the Leong family immigrated to Southern California. He set up a studio in his garage to produce prototypes and taught himself woodworking. He became known since the late 1980’s for his highly intricate and inspiring one-of-a-kind wood boxes that have been enthusiastically acquired and are in many museum collections. Po Shun has created at least a 1000 boxes and one-of-a-kind furniture objects. Lately he has been experimenting with bent plywood forms to produce affordable furniture.

I already published some posts on Po Shun Leong’s stay in Mexico, and his friendship with Don S. Shoemaker (see Don S. Shoemaker and Po Shun Leong Parts 1 & 2 and Mexican Design exhibition at the MAM in 1975 – Part #3).

…to be continued in part # 5

Copyright © 2010 – 2012 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

Mexican Modernism – Furniture Design in Mexico – Part # 3

Mexican designer Pepe Mendoza created a limited number of furniture pieces in the late 1950′s and 60′s. He ran a foundry in Mexico that produced decorative hardware. His work is characterized by a cloisonné-type technique, elaborate metalwork and exuberant forms. He produced some hardware for designer and decorator T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings as well as California modernist designers Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman.

Arturo Pani was the younger brother of Mario Pani, a prominent Mexican Modernist architect and editor of the magazine “Arquitectura México”. Both Mario and Arturo entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Mario was inclined toward architecture and Arturo chose decoration and interior design. Both brothers returned to Mexico City by 1934. Arturo’s first project was the furniture design and decoration of the family house. Mario’s first major project was the construction of the Hotel Reforma in Mexico City in 1936, which became the emblem of Mexican Modernism. Arturo Pani was given carte blanche to design the furniture and interiors of the lobby and several salons of the Hotel Reforma. (Diego Rivera created the murals for one of the dining rooms).

His studio Arturo Pani D., S.A. was active in Mexico City well into the 1970’s. Arturo Pani was “the” decorator to the elite of Mexico and known for creating the famous “Acapulco Look”. Pani did not actually produce his furniture designs by himself; he worked with several outsourced artisans and selected workshops. He had a preference for gilded iron, which he used extensively for the design of his coffee tables, console tables, lamps, etc., these designs where produced by the workshop of Manuel Chacón – the Talleres Chacón in Mexico City. Some of Arturo Pani’s well-known designs include furniture pieces decorated all over with mirrors; however few of these remain in good condition.

Roberto and Mito Block were born in France and migrated to Mexico in the late 1930’s and worked through the 1970’s. They were known for their Neo-classical style with a very sober air toward modernism. Besides being painters they had a decorating and design showroom in Mexico City known as Rob Block & Cía. Their work is characterized by Greek-key motifs and tapered forms, primarily metalwork, sometimes with verre églomisé elements. Same as Arturo Pani, the Block Brothers preferred the Talleres Chacón workshop in Mexico City for the execution of their designs.

…to be continued in part # 4

Copyright © 2012 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

 

Mexican Modernism – Furniture Design in Mexico – Part # 2

Juan O’Gorman, famous Mexican painter, muralist and architect. Juan was the elder son of an Irish mining engineer and painter who settled down in Mexico back in 1895. O’Gorman was one of first Mexican architects to break with traditional Mexican style. Influenced by Le Corbusier and other European Modernists, he produced some of the first examples of functionalist architecture in Mexico. One of O’Gorman´s early commissions was the house and studio for renowned painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, built in 1931-32. As O’Gorman matured he became disenchanted with functionalism and temporarily abandoned architectural practice, devoting himself entirely to the mural painting. But he returned to architecture in the early 1950’s inspired by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright; he advocated a form of organic architecture and integrated vernacular forms and detailing with modern structural and spatial arrangements to achieve a culturally, socially, and environmentally significant architecture.

O’Gorman painted a number of well-known murals in Mexico City, making him a member of the generation of renowned Mexican muralists that followed the big 3: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. His paintings often treated Mexican history, landscape and legends. O’Gorman’s most notable work however is the monumental mosaic on the walls of the UNAM Library (1953). This is the world’s largest mural with more than 3 million pieces of naturally-colored stones and glass, which took 2 years to complete and covers all 4 walls of the building.

Some of O’Gorman´s Modernist tubular furniture designs can be seen at the Museo-Casa Estudio Diego Rivera-Frida Kahlo in San Angel, Mexico City. These early designs were austere and visibly influenced by Le Corbusier’s ideas, later he created mosaic designs translated in beautiful furniture pieces like the coffee table shown below.

Mathias Goeritz was a well-known painter, sculptor and designer of German origin. After spending much of the 1940’s in North Africa and Spain, Goeritz and his wife photographer Marianne Gast, immigrated to Mexico in 1949. In 1953 Goeritz published the “Arquitectura Emocional” manifesto where he declared that “architecture’s principal function is emotion”. Modern Mexican architect Luis Barragán adopted the term and it influenced his work. The Mathias Goeritz – Luis Barragán professional relationship and friendship lasted almost two decades; they were united – among other things – by a mutual admiration for the Bauhaus, the Moorish and Mediterranean architecture and they incorporated Euro-American Modernist design into the existing Mexican landscape and color scheme, creating a unique and exhilarating new design style in Mexico. They also worked together in the project Torres de Satélite (1957–58) guided by Goeritz’s “Emotional Architecture” principles.

Goeritz defended a stance of anonymity and the absence of vanity in regards to his labor, adopting a total and disinterested dedication, like the craftsmen of the past had done. He exhibited widely in Mexico and beyond throughout his life, and he had a significant influence on younger Mexican artists such as Helen Escobedo and Pedro Friedeberg. His rebellious nature and vigorous promotion of the avant-garde made him a leading figure in the development of Modern Art in Mexico.

Regarding Goeritz’ furniture designs, he created some remarkable pieces on commission including complete dining room and living room sets. However, I will not publish the dining room set and service cart that I have in my private collection to avoid forgers from producing cheap knock-offs.

Mexican artist María Lagunes, born in Veracruz, is recognized for opening the path of contemporary experimentation in the artistic expressions of the 60’s and 70’s. The French government gave her a scholarship in 1966 to study the integration of sculpture with architecture and urbanism. She also had the chance to study engraving with Japanese artists and experimental ceramics with famous Mexican artist Juan Soriano. In 1973 she was invited to exhibit at the Le Salon de Mai in the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and was invited back on several occasions, most recently in the year 2000. She also deserves special mention for her participation in 2005 in the revitalization of the Roman Theater of Spoleto (Umbria, Italy). Over the years, her characteristic language evolved from naturalistic forms (human, animal, vegetable) to geometric volumes, depending on the materials chosen: steel, wood, marble, onyx or bronze, this last one (her favorite), is used for most of her creations – but she has also experimented with fiberglass, textiles, metal mesh and recycled materials.

Since her first solo exhibition in 1965, the theme of the city and the man has pervaded her work. The city, the people, the constant flow, the conglomeration are themes captured with ingenuity and shrewdness in each of Lagunes’ works. Her unique work covers sculptures, drawings, paintings and tapestry, which can be found in many public and private collections in Europe and America. I am a profound admirer of her work and her tireless creativity; we have spent many hours together, and she has tried (with a lot of patience) to teach me the very first steps on sculptural forms. I experimented with a wax plaster model she asked me to assemble; when I finally managed somehow to put it together it ended up looking like a “wrapped-up baby”.

María´s furniture-sculptures are particularly special; her Almacén de Recuerdos (Storehouse of Memories) Chest of Drawers Series are matchless:

…to be continued in part # 3

Copyright © 2012 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com