Category Archives: Exhibits

DeVos Art Museum Receives Thank-Yous from school classes

The DeVos Art Museum at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan, received a number of thank you cards from classes of local school children who visited the museum to see the John Lautner exhibit at the end of last year. Copies of the thank yous are being scanned. In the meantime, Karol Lautner Peterson photographed several in a recent visit.

You can see the thank you notes here:

DeVos Thank yous

Marquette Exhibit Ends Soon; wins “Most Awesome” Award

The exhibit on John Lautner at the DeVos Museum of Art in Marquette, Michigan, will close November 13. The exhibit will be open late Saturday, and will offer a closing celebration including a concert by the Terminal Orchestra.

The Michigan Museums Association has awarded the exhibit at the DeVos as well as its sister exhibit at the Marquette Regional History Center its “Most Awesome Experience” award! If you have a chance to see the two museum exhibits, one which features the work of John Lautner and the other of which delves into his family background and life in the Upper Peninsula, do it now! The history exhibit will extend into January of next year, so there is more time for that one.

Exhibits’ Official Openings Friday

Both new exhibits on John Lautner, already open in Marquette, Michigan, will host a formal opening reception Friday, September 2, 2011.  Frank Escher, editor of the monograph John Lautner, Architect, will speak on Lautner at 5:00 p.m., and the DeVos art museum’s reception will follow at 6:00 p.m. The reception at the Marquette Regional History Center begins at 7:00 p.m. (so you can go to everything if you want!).

See this article on the exhibits for more information on the opening reception and all related events.

 

The Annotated Bibliography: bio and biblio in one

excerpt from Cover of annotated bibliography
excerpt from cover

John Crosse, retired environmental engineer, has a penchant for research and a gift for doing it well. Because of his interest in architectural history, particularly in southern California, he offered to create an annotated bibliography of publications on the work of John Lautner. And now he is sharing it with all of us.

Crosse’s bibliography includes many photographs from the publications he includes, as well as significant events in the life of John Lautner, so that one can track projects, clients, and other events along with the publicity given to his work.

Read Crosse’s introduction on his website and download the bibliography yourself:

http://socalarchhistory.blogspot.com/2010/04/introduction-2008-hammer-exhibition.html

You might also want to visit his facebook page (the link is on his site) and add him as a friend to keep track of his many activities.

Exhibit in Palm Springs Takes Different Approach

From Palm Springs Exhibit

The Hammer museum exhibit, Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner, is ending its travels in the Palm Springs Art Museum. Because the exhibit space and lighting is different from what was available at the Hammer the exhibit is laid out differently.

There is an entrance area showing early influences on Lautner, as at the Hammer, then a spiral-shaped path winds its way through the center room, where many plans, sketches, and working models are displayed. The models are in glass cases, allowing close viewing. Finally, an outer ring contains the large-scale exhibit models with their photographic scenic backdrops. Film loops are shown on transparent screens rather than on the wall. Very little material from the original exhibit has been excluded from this smaller-sized version.

The exhibit continues through May 30, 2010. Get an idea of how the exhibit looks through the Foundation’s picasaweb album:

Leland Lee Photographs on Display in Palm Springs

Leland Lee, architectural photographer who photographed several Lautner buildings during his career, will be honored by a special reception at the Michael Lord Gallery in Palm Springs February 18. An exhibit of his photographs is on view there from February 12 through March 12, 2010.

Lee considers his time photographing the Elrod house a peak experience in his career. Now in his 90s, he can still be found attending architectural events and playing card games with a friend who owns a Lautner house.

The Michael Lord Gallery is at 1090 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs.

Palm Springs Television to Feature Exhibit

KPSP, Palm Springs area’s local CBS station, will feature the upcoming exhibit on John Lautner on its “Eye on the Desert” segment Monday, February 15, from 6:45 to 7:00 p.m. Exhibit Co-Curator Frank Escher and Palm Springs Museum Curator Sidney Williams were both interviewed for the segment.

The exhibit, titled “Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner”, was produced by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. It has traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, and now to Palm Springs, where it opens February 20. Because of the fragile nature of the original materials in the exhibit, no more traveling is planned. The Palm Springs exhibit will close May 23.

Hammer Exhibit Opens in Palm Springs in February

The Hammer Museum’s well-received major exhibition on John Lautner, Between Heaven and Earth, opens in Palm Springs on February 20, 2010 and continues until May 23, 2010.  The Palm Springs Art Museum is hosting the exhibit, with the exclusive presenting sponsor the City of Indian Wells.

Events related to the exhibit:

Feb. 19: FREE (MUSEUM MEMBERS ONLY) Lecture on exhibition Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner; Lecture by Frank Escher, co-curator of the exhibition; reception follows (lecture starts 5:30 p.m.)

February 20: Exhibition opening:  Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner (runs through May 23)

February 20: Symposium and tour: From Frank Lloyd Wright to John Lautner and After: Reassessing the Organic Tradition in American Architecture (at Ace Hotel) ($50 for symposium, $250 symposium, lunch and tour of Lautner-designed sites)

Check the Palm Springs Museum website for details.

Museum Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Thursday 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Closed Mondays and major holidays ; Store, Box Office, and Cafe are open during museum hours

Museum Admission

Free to members; youths 12 and under and active military personnel and their families ; $12.50 adults; $10.50 seniors 62 and over; $5.00 for students.  Free public admission every Thursday from 4 – 8 pm during VillageFest, sponsored by the City of Palm Springs. Free admission to AAM, NARM, and WMA members with I.D. Group tours available. Free every Second Sunday through support from the Berger Foundation.

More info: Visit us on the web at: www.psmuseum.org

Guggenheim exhibit on Wright will contain Lautner shelter model

An exhibit on Frank Lloyd Wright, called Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, will open May 15, 2009 and run until August 23, 2009, at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Among the exhibits will be models of shelters designed and built by Taliesin Fellows, including the simple shelter created by John Lautner. From photographs provided by the Lautner family, exhibit creators have been able to recreate it accurately.

See the Guggenheim exhibit page for more information.

photo of Larkin building copyright The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

Spanish architect blogs about exhibit

The Hammer exhibit on John Lautner is up and running in Glasgow. Anna Maria Vicens, a Spanish architect and jewelry designer in Barcelona wrote about the exhibit in this blog post.

In case the post moves here it is in its entirety (without pictures):

A propósito de John Lautner ·1911-1994· . John Lautner, un mago del hormigón, un escultor de vacíos. En sus manos, las sólidas y pesadas estructuras de hormigón se convirtieron en elementos livianos, flexibles y sensuales, elementos dotados de gran potencia visual, sólidos marcos que diálogan harmónicamente con su entorno. Sin saberlo, casi todos hemos disfrutado de su arquitectura a través del cine como con la Elrod residence en “Diamonds are forever”, la Reiner/Burchill Residence en “Less Than Zero” o la Sheats/Coldstein Residence en “The Big Lebowski” entre otras muchas. Si queréis más información sobre su obra visitad la john Lautner foundation donde podréis consultar planos, fotos… y todo lo relacionado el arquitecto. Por cierto, hay una única exposición en Europa sobre la obra de este gran arquitecto americano Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner del día 20 de marzo al 26 de julio de 2009 en The Lighthouse · en Glasgow. Exposición organizada por the Hammer museum en colaboración con la john Lautner foundation. También se proyectará un documental sobre la vida y obra de John Lautner, Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner

About John Lautner ·1911-1994· . John Lautner, a concrete magician, an sculptor of the empty spaces. In his hands, strong and heavy structures became light, flexible and sensual, elements with great visual powerful, solid frameworks that talk in harmony to their environment. Without knowing it, we have enjoyed his architecture trhough films, like “Diamonds are forever”, “Less Than Zero” or “The Big Lebowski” among many others. If you want more information on his work I suggest you to visit the john Lautner foundation where you can find maps, photographs….. and everything about him. From 20 Mar 09 – 26 Jul 09 is Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner the only European showing about the architect at The Lighthouse · in Glasgow. An exhibition organized by the Hammer museum in collaboration with the john Lautner foundation. It will be a documentary on the life and work of John Lautner, “Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner

posted by Ana Maria Vicens