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Conoid Chair

Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery

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Object Details

Artist
George Nakashima, born Spokane, WA 1905-died New Hope, PA 1990
Exhibition Label
There is drama in the opening of a log--to uncover for the first time the beauty in the bole, or trunk, of a tree hidden for centuries, waiting to be given this second life. -- George Nakashima
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019
Luce Center Label
Conoid Chair was built from a slab of walnut cantilevered over two legs that George Nakashima designed to make the chair movable on carpeting. The chair was named after Nakashima's studio in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which was modeled on the section of a cone. The thin hickory spindles rising up to support a gently arced cross-member evoke the elegant window walls of the studio, and recall the colonial tradition of simple, functional spindle-back chairs.
Luce Object Quote
"It is an art and a soul-satisfying adventure to walk the forests of the world, to commune with trees, to take them when mature or even dead and . . . to bring this living material to the work bench, ultimately to give it a second life." George Nakashima, Woodworker, 1984
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lloyd E. Herman, founding director and director emeritus of the Renwick Gallery (1971-1986)
1971
Object number
1991.125
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Decorative Arts-Furniture
Crafts
Medium
black walnut and hickory
Dimensions
35 3/8 x 20 5/8 x 18 3/4 in. (89.8 x 52.5 x 47.6 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Renwick Gallery
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Record ID
saam_1991.125
Metadata Usage (text)
Not determined
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk70076832a-2fbe-49c6-a460-6e042afea9f7

Related Content

  • Asian American Artists and Selected Works

  • Consider the Chair

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