7: CHARLES EAMES AND EERO SAARINEN, Important and rare table for the Organic Design Competition < Design Masterworks, 19 May 2015 < Auctions

Design Masterworks

19 May 2015

Design Masterworks

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen
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Important and rare table for the Organic Design Competition

Red Lion Furniture Company
USA, 1940
molded Honduran mahogany plywood, mahogany 17⅛ h × 39½ w × 34¾ d in (44 × 100 × 88 cm)

estimate: $10,000–15,000

result: $25,000

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provenance: Private collection, Canada | Rago, March 2002, Lot 255 | Private collection, Los Angeles
exhibited: Organic Design, 1941, Museum of Modern Art, New York
literature: Organic Design in Home Furnishings, Noyes, pg. 30 Charles Eames: Furniture from the Design Collection, Drexler, ppg. 4, 11 The Story of Eames Furniture: The Early Years, Book 1, Neuhart, ppg. 250-289 discuss the Organic Design Competition Eero Saarinen: Furniture for Everyman, Lutz, pg. 86

Table for the Organic Design Competition

An Award-Winning Design

In 1940, the Museum of Modern Art in New York inaugurated the groundbreaking Organic Design competition to “discover good designers and engage them in the task of creating a better environment for today’s living.” The museum collaborated with several manufacturers and department stores to produce and distribute the winning designs.

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen submitted collections to two categories – seating for a living room and other furniture for a living room – and won first prize for both. Their use of innovative technologies and new manufacturing processes set the works by Eames and Saarinen apart from their competitors. Their designs dramatically influenced modern movements in the field and directly influenced the future direction both designers would take in their careers.

Organic Design Competition exhibition view featuring this form.

This rare coffee table, made of molded plywood by the Red Lion Furniture Company, was among the case good designs featured in this influential exhibition and competition. Due to the difficulties of production, their furniture forms ended up being expensive to make (The coffee table was listed at a price of $49.50 which was a considerable sum for the time.) and production was short lived. This coffee table is one of only a few examples ever made.

A design may be called organic when there is a harmonious organization of the parts within the whole, according to structure, material and purpose. Within this definition there can be no vain ornamentation or superfluity, but the part of beauty is none the less great – in ideal choice of material, in visual refinement, and in the rational elegance of things intended for use.

—Eliot Noyes

Charles and Ray Eames

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The vast influence of Charles and Ray Eames is immeasurable; Responding to the burgeoning attitudes and landscapes of mid-century America, they created an utterly unique and novel design world, born from their curiosity, industriousness, optimism and humanistic impulses.

In 1940, the Charles and Ray met at Cranbrook Academy of Art, where Charles was collaborating with Eero Saarinen on furniture designs and Ray was studying painting. The two married in 1941 and moved to Los Angeles soon after, establishing their highly influential design firm that, with the help of other talented designers they brought in, would re-shape modern design. Early explorations in plywood and mass-producing sturdy, livable and charming furniture brought them success and allowed them to extend their efforts into more diverse fields such as education, textiles, filmmaking, curating, architecture and industrial design.

The Eames Office operated for over four decades, exerting an enormous influence on modern and contemporary design through their limitless vision of the human spirit. Charles passed away in 1978 and Ray died ten years later to the day. Their contribution to the American ethos continues to inspire and influence contemporary design today.

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Auction Results Charles and Ray Eames