Lighting: 20th Century Classics E-Book

Quin Scala

• Herausgeber: IMM Lifestyle Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Seitenzahl: 142

Beschreibung

The 20th century was a rich period of beautiful, innovative design and many classics from that era have influenced and inspired modern designers. "Lighting: 20th-Century Classics" includes more than 90 of the most desirable and iconic pendant lights, table lamps, floor and wall and ceiling designs from the last century. Organized by decade each entry comprises: a double-page spread, featuring a short essay on the classic under discussion and a photograph of that object; top tips on what to look out for when considering a purchase; a price guide in both pounds sterling and US dollars; and, key websites for further information about the piece. This book provides all the information you will need to make an informed decision when investing in a piece of classic design, whether it is a Tiffany lamp, a Poul Henningsen PH Artichoke or PH5 or a Verner Panton Moon Lamp. This gorgeous book is essential for anyone interested in style, design or interiors.

Leseprobe

Lighting – 20th-Century Classics features almost 100 of the most desirable and iconic pieces produced in this area. There are literally hundreds of desk and floor lights, wall and pendant lights and lamps that could have been included in this volume and choosing what to include has been a monumental and extremely difficult task.

This is by no means meant to be a directory of 20th-century lighting – we leave that to other people and other books – but rather it is a personal selection of those lights that we feel are most desirable, inspirational and are – quite simply – first among equals. Lighting mixes museum classics, items featured in the MoMa in New York and the Design Museum or Victoria and Albert museums in London, for example, with pieces that are relatively easy to purchase. It provides, we hope, a very brief but helpful insight into the wealth of beautiful and inspiring 20th-century design classics in this sector.

For ease of use this book is arranged chronologically within 10 colour-coded sections, each representing a decade. In some cases the exact year of creation has been surprisingly difficult to pinpoint as sources vary; in such instances we have chosen to cite the date used in the most credible sources available. Each entry features a photograph, often kindly supplied by the manufacturer, a detailed and lively essay putting the object and designer in context, some top tips on what to look out for and a website or two.

We hope this introduces you to the extraordinary world of 20th-century lighting and the stunningly talented men and women whose creations are featured here, including Josef Hoffmann, Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Tom Dixon and Eileen Gray.

Finally we would like to thank Aruna Vasudevan, our publisher, for commissioning this book and for her advice in selecting the entries, Susannah Jayes, the picture editor, Colin Hall for the interior and cover design and last but not least the many designers and manufacturers who gave advice, tips and feedback on the lights in this book.

– Fletcher Sibthorp and Scala Quin

Contents

Foreword

  1900s

Tiffany Lights (1900s)

Model No. M109 Table Light,

Josef Hoffmann (1903)

Fortuny Floor lights,

Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (1907)

  1910s

René Lalique Lighting

(c.1910 onwards)

Floor Light,

Frank Lloyd Wright (c.1915)

  1920s

Hanging Light,

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1920)

Model No. ME1 Table Light,

Wagenfeld and Jucker (1923–4)

PH 4.5–3.5,

Pøul Henningsen (1925)

Table Light,

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1925)

Desk Light,

Edouard–Wilfrid Buquet (1925-7)

Model No. ME78B Hanging Lamp,

Brandt & Przyrembel (1926)

Model No. 404 Giso Piano Light,

Oud & Gispen (1927)

Tube Floor Light,

Eileen Gray (1927)

Kandem Bedside Light (Model No. 702),

Brandt and Bredendieck (1927)

Desk Lamp,

Donald Deskey (1927)

Model No. NT922 Table Lamp,

Walter von Nessen (Germany, 1927)

PH Septima Hanging Light,

Pøul Henningsen (1927–8)

Polo Popular Desk Light,

Christian Dell (1929)

  1930s

Model No. 0024 Hanging Light,

Gio Ponti (1931–2)

BL1 Table Lamp (Bestlite)

Robert Dudley Best (1933)

Cascade Chandelier,

Pøul Henningsen (1933)

Anglepoise 1227,

George Carwardine (1935)

Executive Model No. 114 Desk Light,

Walter Dorwin Teague (1939)

  1940s

Paper Shades,

Le Klint (1943)

Bolide Desk Light,

Jumo (1945)

Bubble Hanging Lights,

George Nelson (1945)

Grasshopper Floor Light,

Greta Magnusson Grossman (1947)

Cobra Table Light,

Greta Magnusson Grossman (1948–9)

  1950s

Praying Mantis Floor Light,

J. Rispal (c.1950)

Type 600,

Rosmarie and Rico Baltensweiler (1950)

Model No. A5011 Hanging Light,

G. Scolari (1950)

Half Nelson Table Light,

George Nelson (1950)

Model No. 8 Desk Light,

Clay Michie (1950)

Table Lamp,

Anthony Ingolia (c.1951)

Model No. F–1–W Floor Light,

Gilbert A. Watrous (1951)

Akari Floor Lamp,

Isamu Noguchi (1960)

Tubino,

Achille Castiglioni (1951)

Model No. 534 Table Light,

Gino Sarfatti (1951)

Anywhere Light,

Greta von Nessen (1951)

Model No. A110 Pendant Light,

Alvar Aalto (1952)

PH Artichoke,

Pøul Henningsen (1952)

Tripod Desk Light,

Serge Mouille (1953)

Table Lights,

Louis Christiaan Kalff (1955)

2097 Chandelier,

Gino Sarfatti (1956)

AJ Light,

Arne Jacobsen (1957)

PH 5 light

Pøul Henningsen (1958)

Model No. K10–11 Floor Light,

Tapio Wirkkala (1958)

  1960s

Moon Lamp,

Verner Panton (1960)

Gatto table lamp,

A and PG Castiglioni (1960)

Arco,

A and PG Castiglioni (1962)

Wegner Pendant (LO37),

Hans J. Wegner (1962)

Toio,

A and PG Castiglioni (1962)

Taccia Table Lamp,

A and PG Castiglioni (1962)

Acrilica,

Joe Colombo (1962)

Astro (Lava Lamp),

Edward Craven Walker (1963)

Falkland Hanging Light,

Bruno Munari (1964)

Spider 291

Joe Colombo (1965)

Lamp (Model 600P),

Gino Sarfatti (1966)

Eclisse Bedside Light,

Vico Magistretti (1966)

Bulb,

Ingo Maurer (1966)

Foglia Wall Light,

Tobia Scarpa (1966)

Snoopy,

A and PG Castiglioni (1967)

Semi,

Bonderup and Thorup (1968)

Biagio,

Tobia Scarpa (1968)

FlowerPot

Verner Panton (1968)

Norm 69,

Simon Karkov (1969)

Dalù table light,

Vico Magistretti (1969)

Pistillo table/wall/ceiling light,

Studio Tetrarch (1969)

Spiral Triple,

Verner Panton (1969)

  1970s

VP Globe,

Verner Panton (1970)

Panthella Floor,

Verner Panton (1970–1)

IQLight®,

Holger Strøm (1972)

Tizio 35,

Richard Sapper (1971-2)

Ariette,

Tobia Scarpa (1973)

Atollo Table Lamp,

Vico Magestretti (1977)

Jill,

King, Miranda & Arnaldi (Italy; 1977–8)

  1980s

Gibigiana Table Light,

Achille Castiglioni (1980)

Tahiti,

Ettore Sottsass (1981)

RHa Task Lights,

Rams & Hackbarth (1981–4)

VIP Light series,

Jørgen Gammelgaard (1983)

Nyhavn Series,

Alfred Homann & Ole V. Kjær (1984–6)

Cestello Lighting System,

Gau Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni (1985)

Costanza Lights,

Paolo Rizzatto (1986)

Tolomeo,

M. de Lucchi and G. Fassina (1987)

ARA,

Philippe Starck (1988)

Taraxacum 88 Chandelier,

Achille Castiglioni (1988)

  1990s

Miss Sissi,

Philippe Starck (1991)

Milk Bottle Hanging Light,

Tejo Remy (1991)

Brera,

Achille Castiglione (1992)

Birds, Birds, Birds Suspension light,

Ingo Maurer (1992)

85 Lamps,

Rody Graumans (1992)

Jack Light,

Tom Dixon (1994)

Block Lamp,

Harri Koskinen (1996)

Glo-Ball,

Jasper Morrison (1998)

Stick Floor Light,

Michael Young (1999)

Light Shade Shade,

Jurgen Bey (1999)

Notes on Designers

Index

Picture credits

1900s

Tiffany Lights

The invention of electricity and the electric light bulb opened up all kinds of possibilities in light design. At the forefront was Louis Comfort Tiffany who mixed new technology with beauty.

The son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of the silver and jewellery company Tiffany & Co., Louise Comfort Tiffany was among the first generation of professional designers to take advantage of new electric lighting technology and merge it with his own brand of brilliant craftmanship and stunning design. Tiffany had already worked with Thomas Edison to develop the stage and decorative lighting in New York’s Lyceum Theater and Louis, already an acclaimed designer of stain glass windows, mosaics and jewellery, but also a businessman, grasped its possibilities. He began to reuse the discarded pieces of stained glass from his windows, turning them into much sought-after decorative lampshades. In 1900, the first Tiffany electric lamp was exhibited in Paris. The lamps were subsequently designed by Louis or by carefully chosen artists. The lamp bases typically looked like fine bronze sculptures. They were topped by shades made from placing hundreds of hand-cut glass shapes into copper foil enclosures. Every shade was assigned a model number.

    Items to look out for

The original Tiffany lights are very collectable. Each piece has a model number and the Favrile pieces usually have ‘L. C. T.’ or ‘Favrile’. The shades made from leaded glass usually bear a metal signature tag.

Top Tips

It is possible to buy very good reproduction Tiffany lights from a variety of suppliers, including Direct Lighting (below).

Websites

Direct Lightingwww.directlight.co.uk

1903

Model No. M109 table light

Josef Hoffmann

Along with Louis Comfort Tiffany, Josef Hoffmann was one of the first professional lighting designers to make his mark in the early 20th century.

Austrian architect, industrial designer and interior designer, Josef Hoffmann created some of the most innovative designs of the early 20th century. His 1903 table lamp, Model No. M109, was one of the first pieces created for the Wiener Werkstätte for decorative arts, which Hoffmann helped found with fellow architects Koloman Moser and Joseph Maria Olbrich. Hoffmann himself has been inspired by the work of Charles Rennie Macintosh in Britain. His work is often distinguishable by its craftsmanship, simple structures and geometric forms.

In 1903, Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstätte were commissioned to build the Sanatorium Purkersdorf on the outskirts of Vienna. It was an institution for the upper echelons of society and as such its exterior and interior decorations had to be suitably luxurious and of the highest quality. Model No. M109 was one of the light fittings designed for the Sanatorium. It had a brass or nickel-plated base with an opalescent glass shade.

     Items to look out for

The original lights are quite hard to find.

Top Tips

Reproductions are available from Woka Lamps in Vienna. It costs £1,984 (US $3,105).

Websites

Woka Lampswww.woka.com

1907

Fortuny Floor Light

Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo

The name ‘Fortuny’ evokes images of silk dresses, so fine that they could pass through a wedding ring, but Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo was also a very talented light designer.

Spanish born Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo was a true child of Europe. Although he started life in Granada, Andalusia, he was raised in Rome and Paris, before moving to Venice in 1889, where he began to concentrate on a career in stage design and photography. Although better known to most people as a high couture designer, Fortuny created some of the most innovative lights of the early 20th century.

In the early 1900s, Fortuny realized the possibie impact of electricity on the future of theatrical lighting. At his studio, he experimented using concave reflectors to reduce light glare, putting his theories into practice with a 1903 desk light. In 1907, he created the enamelled steel tripod-based floor lamp for which he would become so famous. Light was reflected off an overscaled cotton fabric hemisphere shade and a metal panel. The shade diffused light, reducing the glare. The Fortuny Floor Light was originally produced by AEG.

     Items to look out for

The original lamp was produced by the German company AEG.

Top Tips

Palluco Italia reproduce the light with a metal diffuser. It can be purchased for £2,543 (US $ 3,993). It comes with removable wheels.

Websites

Fortunywww.fortunyshop.org

1910+

René Lalique Lighting

Think René Lalique and artglass springs to mind, but Lalique’s importance lies in bringing innovative, beautiful artware to the public through his application of mass production techniques.

Born in Ay, France, in 1860, René Lalique was, by the the early 20th century, one of the most influential jewellers and designers in Europe, his work contributing much to the Art Nouveau movement. Lalique’s designs attracted great attention at the 1900 international exhibition held in France. He was a great innovator, utlizing new materials in his work, and his favourite emblems were women and animals, particularly insects and snakes.

Lalique’s interest in architectural glass and rock crystal led him to found a glass factory in France around 1910. Eight years later he moved to larger premises. In his factories, he experimented with different shapes and forms. His work, particularly the highly stylized moulded glass perfume bottles, garnered critical acclaim. Lalique also created a series of beautifully crafted lights from glass. Notable pieces include the Fruits chandelier (c.1914, pictured opposite), made up of colourless glass-etched panels. Lalique used it as part of his exhibition set in the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.

     Items to look out for

Lalique is very collectable. Notable pieces include the Chandelier Normandie which sold for £43,500 (US S68,500) and Chandalier Ananas et Grenadas which sold for £162,240 (US $254,000).

Top Tips

Although pretty much every original piece is signed ‘RLalique’, ‘Lalique’ or has a country of origin and model number, these things are easy to fake. Go through a reputable auction house or dealer.

Websites

RLalique Antiqueswww.rlalique.com

c.1915

Floor Light

Frank Lloyd Wright

The most influential US architect of the last century, Frank Lloyd Wright stated that the space within a building was the reality of that building. The interior fittings were as important.

Frank Lloyd Wright defined the style of 20th century American architecture. His buildings and interiors range from the Prairie style of the early part of the century to classic structures such as the New York Guggenheim Museum.

Born in 1867, Wright initially studied engineering but dropped out to work for Joseph Lyman Silsbee’s architecture firm in Chicago, before moving to the more progressive Sullivan and Adler. At the age of 26, he set up his own architecture studio and began developing the Prairie style for which he became famous. Although he was already developing a definitive American style of architecture, Wright was influenced by Europe, for example, by the Arts and Crafts movement. Wright always paid careful attention to interiors, particularly to climate control and lighting. The floor light (opposite) was created for the home of Sherman M. Booth in about 1915. It showcases Wright’s belief in functionalism and architectural purity in the clean lines of its mahogany base and opaque glass shade.

     Items to look out for

You can visit the Sherman M. Booth house and many other Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and see his lighting in situ.

Top Tips

It is possible to buy reproductions of Wright’s lights. The Taliesen Pendant Light for example retails at £2,600 (US $4,200).

Websites

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundationwww.franklloydwright.org

1920

Hanging Light

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

Dutch architect and designer Gerrit Thomas Rietveld is probably most famous for his Red/Black Chair, but for many lighting fans his 1920 Hanging Light is a masterpiece.

Born in Utrecht in 1888 Gerrit Thomas Rietveld began working for his father’s carpentry shop before becoming an apprentice to a jewellery studio. In 1911, he started his own cabinetmaking business and worked there while studying at night to become an architect. He was a rationalist when he encountered the De Stijl movement, which had been founded in Amsterdam by a group of artists in 1917. They advocated stripping everything back to the bare essentials in terms of colour and form, using primary colours along with black and white and using horizontal and vertical directions. His 1920 Hanging Light was a wood and glass design in which three tubular exposed glass lights were suspended from the ceiling. It hung in the consulting rooms of Dr Hartog in Maarssen, whose interior Rietveld designed in 1922. The light was much imitated – even by Walter Gropius, who designed something similar for the director’s office at the Weimer Bauhaus.

     Items to look out for

The original lights were manufactured by G.A. Van de Groenekan in Amsterdam.

Top Tips

Check the provenance of any light you buy carefully as this light has been much copied.

Websites

Cassinawww.cassina.com

See also

Table Light, p26

1923–4

Model No. ME1 Table Light

Wagenfeld and Jucker

Wilhelm Wagenfeld collaborated with Carl Jacob Jucker at the Bauhaus Wiemar to create the iconic Model No. ME1 Table Light. From the first it was intended for mass production.

Although the pieces designed in the Bauhaus metal workshops in Weimar under Johannas Itten reflected his belief in handcrafted artistry and the strict use of geometric and mathematical forms, when Lászlo Moholy-Nagy became head in 1923, the philosophy of the department drastically changed. The metal studio focused on producing lighting and experimented with new materials such as moulded glass and Perspex and goods produced were meant to be not only attractive and functional but suitable for mass production. The ‘Bauhaus Lamp’ or Model No. ME1, designed by Wagenfeld and Jucker, was groundbreaking in terms of modern lighting and design. Its aesthetically pleasing, streamlined form is juxtaposed by the industrial feel of the exposed electric cable inside the glass shaft stem. Made of nickel-plated steel, brass, glass, tube and opalescent glass, the light was produced at the Bauhaus in serial production.

     Items to look out for

The original lamp with its etched acid mark ‘Felsenglass’. At auction the lamp can fetch between £19–32,000 (US $30–50,000).

Top Tips

Look out for the 1925 Bauhaus Dessau catalogue showing the lamp. This is also highly collectable.

Websites

MoMAwww.moma.org

1925

PH 4.5–3.5

Pøul Henningsen

Pøul Henningsen’s PH 4.5 lighting range, produced for Louis Poulsen from the 1920s, is probably among the most desirable of multi-shaded tiered lighting.

After studying architecture in Copenhagen at the Technical University of Denmark, Pøul Henningsen set up his own studio in 1920. Although he designed several buildings, he became known as a lighting designer after his products began to garner critical acclaim in the mid 1920s.

In 1924 Henningsen began working on a series of multi-shaded, tiered hanging and table lights. He was particularly concerned with creating something that was practical, visually beautiful but that also could reduce the glare of the electric bulb. The resultant PH series was produced while Henningsen was working for the acclaimed Danish manufacturer Louis Poulsen.