GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Master woodworker Sam Maloof built his legacy on skillful craftsmanship and the creation of timeless furniture. This 1984 armchair is no exception, epitomizing his mastery of natural materials and carefully attenuated curves. Its brilliance arises not from added ornamentation but from the enrichment of the wood's natural grain, texture, and color. As with every piece he built, Maloof carefully considered its every angle and surface, refining shapes with hand tools to assure the result was comfortable, functional, and beautiful.
The design of the low arms on this chair are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also serve a deliberate function. Maloof tells us, "The very low arm on some of my chairs acts as a handle, and, structurally, takes the place of a stretcher below the chair seat. This arm is used to lower yourself into and to raise yourself out of the chair. It also serves as a convenient means of moving the chair forward or backward from a seated position without having to grab the bottom of the chair seat. A stretcher below the seat would clutter the clean flow of my designs. The only time I make a high arm is for rocking chairs, some side chairs, and occasional chairs. Dining chairs for host and hostess may have high arms if requested. The low arm has the added advantage of being both comfortable and not interfering with the motion of your body, particularly your elbows. Furthermore, you can throw your knee over the low arm and slouch with abandon, and the chair will endure."
Drawn from
- Bonnie, Pitman, ed. Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2012), 296.
- Charles L. Venable, American Furniture in the Bybee Collection, (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1989), 168.
- Sam Maloof, with Jonathan Fairbanks, introduction. Sam Maloof: Woodworker, (Tokyo, New York, San Francisco: Kodansha International Ltd. 1983).
NOTES
updated provenance and geo x refs
EAS- received email from Carolyn Bess, March 2, 2018:
[to Emily, Hillary, and Isabel...]
Arts & Letters Live commissioned poet Naomi Shihab Nye to write a poem inspired by a work of art of her choice in the DMA’s collections. Her poem is attached. I thought you’d like to have it for archives, online collection assets, and the object file.
Emily – if there are specific interpretive strategies or assets you’d like us to seek permission for, please send me an email with a list so that we can incorporate those into the permission form.
[to Jill Bernstein...]Attached is Naomi Shihab’s Nye’s poem that Arts & Letters Live commissioned (based on a work of art of her choice in the DMA’s collection). I’m sending it to you for inclusion in Artifacts. You might be interested to include in the narrative that Nye’s parents lived in Dallas for 40 years, and they visited the DMA all the time as a family.
**we’ll need to keep this confidential and not publish it publicly until after May 6, when she debuts it as part of her Arts & Letters Live event.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1984: in the collection of the artist, Sam Maloof, Alta Loma, California
1984-1988: The Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection, Houston, Texas, purchased from the artist
From 1988: Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Charles L. Venable, American Furniture in the Bybee Collection, (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, published in association with the Dallas Museum of Art, 1989), 168-69.
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Youtube~Click here to watch a video of the designer creating an arm for a chair.
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Apply to objects where number equals 1988.B.83
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General Description
Master woodworker Sam Maloof built his legacy on skillful craftsmanship and the creation of timeless furniture. This 1984 armchair is no exception, epitomizing his mastery of natural materials and carefully attenuated curves. Its brilliance arises not from added ornamentation but from the enrichment of the wood's natural grain, texture, and color. As with every piece he built, Maloof carefully considered its every angle and surface, refining shapes with hand tools to assure the result was comfortable, functional, and beautiful.
The design of the low arms on this chair are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also serve a deliberate function. Maloof tells us, "The very low arm on some of my chairs acts as a handle, and, structurally, takes the place of a stretcher below the chair seat. This arm is used to lower yourself into and to raise yourself out of the chair. It also serves as a convenient means of moving the chair forward or backward from a seated position without having to grab the bottom of the chair seat. A stretcher below the seat would clutter the clean flow of my designs. The only time I make a high arm is for rocking chairs, some side chairs, and occasional chairs. Dining chairs for host and hostess may have high arms if requested. The low arm has the added advantage of being both comfortable and not interfering with the motion of your body, particularly your elbows. Furthermore, you can throw your knee over the low arm and slouch with abandon, and the chair will endure."
Drawn from
- Bonnie, Pitman, ed. Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2012), 296.
- Charles L. Venable, American Furniture in the Bybee Collection, (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1989), 168.
- Sam Maloof, with Jonathan Fairbanks, introduction. Sam Maloof: Woodworker, (Tokyo, New York, San Francisco: Kodansha International Ltd. 1983).
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
updated provenance and geo x refs
EAS- received email from Carolyn Bess, March 2, 2018:
[to Emily, Hillary, and Isabel...]
Arts & Letters Live commissioned poet Naomi Shihab Nye to write a poem inspired by a work of art of her choice in the DMA’s collections. Her poem is attached. I thought you’d like to have it for archives, online collection assets, and the object file.
Emily – if there are specific interpretive strategies or assets you’d like us to seek permission for, please send me an email with a list so that we can incorporate those into the permission form.
[to Jill Bernstein...]Attached is Naomi Shihab’s Nye’s poem that Arts & Letters Live commissioned (based on a work of art of her choice in the DMA’s collection). I’m sending it to you for inclusion in Artifacts. You might be interested to include in the narrative that Nye’s parents lived in Dallas for 40 years, and they visited the DMA all the time as a family.
**we’ll need to keep this confidential and not publish it publicly until after May 6, when she debuts it as part of her Arts & Letters Live event.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1984: in the collection of the artist, Sam Maloof, Alta Loma, California
1984-1988: The Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection, Houston, Texas, purchased from the artist
From 1988: Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Charles L. Venable, American Furniture in the Bybee Collection, (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, published in association with the Dallas Museum of Art, 1989), 168-69.
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