vz pointed out this dwr e.mail news letter. it mentions harry bertoia monotype prints and metal sound sculptures also for auction at the above "live auction" link which i noticed but failed to mention. he's a nut-job that we like to keep our eye on here. the auction was completed over the weekend and eeeeeeeeeeeeverthing sold.

I was introduced to the work of Bruno Munari (1907­1998) by an Italian architect during the major design event of the year, the Salone Internazionale del Mobile . I had been commenting on the overpowering attention paid to and creativity of the styling of the displays throughout the show and how this contrasted with the predictability of the new products being offered. I joked with my architect friend about what conformists the Italians had seemingly become. There was so much "good design" and the level of craftsmanship was high, but innovative ideas were not equally present. The show was more about presentation.

My Salone companion later gave me a small paperback book, Il Mare Come Artigiano (The Sea As Craftsman), which was written by and served as an introduction to an Italian designer with whom I was unfamiliar, Bruno Munari. The 60-page book starts with an ode to Japanese painter and printmaker Katsushika Hokusai and contains precious and quirky drawings and photographs that supplement the minimal text, which is a pithy combination of humor and philosophy and which reflects a deep understanding of design. A major theme running through the book is that everything produced in nature is original, with no two plants, animals or stones being the same. For example, if you look at the objects that wash up on the beach‹seaweed, shells, driftwood‹they are faultless studies in form and do not need to be formally displayed to be appreciated. Munari writes, "Usually craftsmen show off their merchandise by photographing it in an appealing way and publishing pages of advertising in specialist magazines.  The sea, on the other hand, does not present its stuff in specialist magazines, but 'chucks' it onto the beaches, even when there is no public, even when it snows, wherever, at random."

Few designers write well about design. Fewer still can write about nature and design without trailing off into sentimental worship. Munari is an exception. Not many of us outside Italy know about Munari, although Picasso did. He referred to Munari as "the Leonardo of the 20th century." Hard to categorize, Munari was equal parts artist, graphic designer, educator and philosopher who had "no interest in placing the trendy before the enduring or an artistic gesture before method." A renaissance guy and a designer's designer, Munari was the enfant terrible of the design world and a frequent speaker. His legacy includes more than 50 books and writings, a selection of which we hope to bring to you soon.

One of those books, which we hope to have available later this year, is Good Design. Written in 1963, the book consists of three chapters that explore the design merits of an orange, a pea and a rose with humor and insights that are quintessential Munari. His study of the rose refers to the flower as "an immoral object." The pea is reviewed thusly: "The novelty of the product is in the simplicity and at the same time the originality of the case." Oranges are discussed as "perfect objects, in which the absolute coherence of form, use and consumption is found. Š If it were blue, it would be wrong." Good Design is a charming and insightful 30-page booklet with bilingual Italian and English text and clever drawings and graphs. Think of it as a pocket-sized reminder not to take ourselves too seriously in design.

We have 40 copies of Good Design to send gratis to those who best accomplish the following: Send us a brief email about the design merits and character of some other fruit or vegetable. Respecting Munari's principle of "lucidity, leanness, exactitude and humor," we are imposing a 50-word limit. Email your responses to newscomments@dwr.com by Wednesday, April 6. The books will be sent out the following week, and we will print some of the better quotes in the newsletter.

For those interested, this year's Salone begins April 14, in Milan, Italy. Book now.

  Conventional auctions as we know them have been thinned out considerably by eBay in the past five years, but a few modern auctions continue to thrive. In addition to Chicago-based Wright modern auctions , David Rago, publisher of Modernism Magazine, runs New Jersey­based Sollo:Rago Modern Auctions  in partnership with John Sollo. On Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, a Sollo:Rago Modern Auction will take place at the Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville, New Jersey, halfway between New York City and Philadelphia. The auction includes 1,016 lots, including a number of George Nakashima pieces and designs by Norman Bel Geddes, Vladimir Kagan, Bruno Mathsson , Finn Juhl, Louis Poulson, Russel Wright  and George Nelson , among many others. For modern art followers, pottery by Peter Voulkos, former longtime professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is a treat, as are a number of monoprints and metal sculptures by Harry Bertoia . Click here  for more details. Online bidding is possible at www.liveauctioneers.com/catalogs/1986.html

My friend Tony had some amazing Nakashima pieces he unfortunately had to sell a few years ago. If I remember the story correctly, the entire bar at Texarkana (what is now Alta, on 10th street between 5th and 6th) was made by Nakashima. As well as a few other sculptural pieces. Some of these were "saved" by the employees when the bar closed down. This was probably 15 years ago or so. I wish he still had them.
- jim 4-04-2005 8:58 pm [add a comment]

wow, good story - i believe the daughter keeps the new hope studio open with similar new work available. i went to texarkana back in the day. had catfish. i wish tony still had those pieces too, love to see them. i have a 6' clunky amature made (non-nakashima, not even nakashima school) black walnut tree trunk coffee table of buck country origin.
- bill 4-05-2005 12:09 am [add a comment]