George Nakashima
George Nakashima | |
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M.I.T. | |
Known for | Furniture and woodworking designer, architect |
Movement | American craft movement |
Spouse | Marion Okajima |
Children |
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Awards | Order of the Sacred Treasure 1983 |
George Katsutoshi Nakashima (
Early life
Nakashima was born in 1905 in
While in
Woodworking
External videos | |
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1971 George Nakashima Conoid Bench, 3:40 | |
George Nakashima Walnut Trestle Table & Sketch, ca. 1955, 2:58 | |
1974 Signed George Nakashima End Table, 3:05, all on Antiques Road Show, PBS |
In 1937, Raymond's company was commissioned to build a dormitory at an ashram in Puducherry, India for which Nakashima was the primary construction consultant. It was here that Nakashima made his first furniture.[2]
In 1940, Nakashima returned to America and began to make furniture and teach woodworking in
Nakashima's signature woodworking design was his large-scale tables made of large wood slabs with smooth tops but unfinished natural edges, consisting of multiple slabs connected with butterfly joints.
Nakashima, along with the Danish furniture maker Tage Frid, Swedish James Krenov, and Americans Wharton Esherick and Art Carpenter, are considered to be among the "first generation" of Studio Furniture makers and are cited as highly influential to the field of contemporary woodworking.[8]
New Hope inspiration
In 1943, Antonin Raymond successfully sponsored Nakashima's release from the camp and invited him to his farm to work as a chicken farmer in New Hope, Pennsylvania.[3] In his studio and workshop at New Hope, Nakashima explored the organic expressiveness of wood and choosing boards with knots and burls and figured grain. He designed furniture lines for Knoll, including the Straight Back Chair (which is still in production), and Widdicomb-Mueller as he continued his private commissions. The studio grew incrementally until Nelson Rockefeller commissioned 200 pieces for his house in Pocantico Hills, New York, in 1973.[1]
Nakashima has named the inspiration in his work to include the Japanese tea ceremony, American Shaker furniture, and the Zen Buddhist ideals of beauty. Nakashima self-identified as a “Hindu Catholic Shaker Japanese American”[3]
Drawing on Japanese designs and shop practices, as well as on American and International Modern styles, Nakashima created a body of work that would make his name synonymous with the best of 20th century American Art furniture.
Legacy
Nakashima's
Nakashima's daughter, Mira Nakashima, took over the company from her father after he died in 1990. Mira, who has worked for the family business since 1970, currently produces her father's iconic designs as well as her own.[12]
See also
- Widdicomb Furniture Company, for which Nakashima designed the "Origin Group" collection.
- National Institute of Design
- Gira Sarabhai
References
- ^ a b c Moonan, Wendy. "Antiques: A Reverence For Wood And Nature", The New York Times, November 7, 2003.
- ^ a b c Designboom website; biography of George Nakashima 7 02; "Biography of george nakashima". Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014. retvd 8 8 14
- ^ OCLC 465022236.
- ^ "Antonin Raymond | American architect | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
- ^ "Golconde: The First Modernist Building in India". February 14, 2017.
- ^ "George Nakashima's iconic grass-seated chairs up for auction at Saffronart". The Week. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ^ "Gentaro Kenneth Hikogawa". Densho Encyclopedia.
- ^ Giles, Dorothy (1953). Designer Craftsmen USA 1953. Brooklyn, NY: The Brooklyn Museum.
- ^ "Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov.
- ^ "Getty Foundation Awards 14 New Grants for "Keeping It Modern"". June 24, 2015.
- ^ "Altars for Peace: The Legacy of George Nakashima".
- ^ "Profiles: Mira Nakashima - Full Interview". www.woodcraft.com. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- Nakashima, Mira. Nature, Form and Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003.
External links
- George Nakashima's Official Website
- Interview with George Nakashima in Life magazine
- Auction results and statistics from Nakashima
- US-based biggest collector The Exchange Int George Nakashima's A Sacred Relationship with Trees