Sam Maloof (1916–2009) was a woodworker born and raised in Southern California who became a nationally recognized leader of the American studio furniture movement—a movement that favored the aesthetics of craft and the handmade over the machine and mass-production. His iconic chairs, tables, and other creations are renowned for their elegant sculptural form and virtuosic craftsmanship. Maloof was also an integral member of the art, craft, and design community that emerged in the Pomona Valley, at the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, in the years following World War II. A major survey of his work, “The House that Sam Built” showcases about 30 important Maloof pieces spanning more than three decades of his career in a display integrated with approximately 80 works by about 30 of his friends and colleagues who worked in other media. Maloof’s circle included painters Millard Sheets, Phil Dike, and Karl Benjamin; sculptors Albert Stewart, Betty Davenport Ford, and John Svenson; ceramists Harrison McIntosh and Otto and Gertrud Natzler; enamelists Jean and Arthur Ames; wood turner Bob Stocksdale; and fiber artist Kay Sekimachi. The exhibition gathers together works from several private and public collections to shed new light on the rich network of influences and exchanges that developed among artists and artisans living in the Pomona Valley in this dynamic period of American art. It is accompanied by a catalog and related programming, including a conference to be held Oct. 28–30, 2011, in three locations: The Huntington, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts in Alta Loma, Calif. “The House that Sam Built” is part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980, an unprecedented collaboration initiated by the Getty Foundation that brings together more than 50 cultural institutions from across Southern California for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the LA art scene.
MaryLou and George Boone Gallery
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