2006.42, Chair, Karl Emmanuel Martin (Kem) Weber (Designer), Airline Chair Company (maker) , 1934-35

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Giving objects, even stationary ones, streamlined shapes was seen as a sign of progress and dynamism in the Depression years of the 1930s. Thanks to the emerging profession of industrial design and the need to enhance slumping sales figures, streamlined silhouettes were given to everything from buildings to buses and from cocktail shakers to vacuum cleaners. Furthermore, the modernity of these products was often enhanced through the use of new materials, including plywood, plastic, chromed steel, and aluminum. The end result was fashionable yet relatively inexpensive products that could be consumed on a mass scale and were not restricted to the wealthy upper class.

This chair's smooth lines suggests the image of speed, and its strut-like components further nod to its Airline namesake. Its form represents a superlative achievement in proclaiming Machine Age sensibilities by means of a traditional furniture material--wood. Echoing the earlier efforts of European designers Marcel Breuer, Alvar Aalto, and Gerald Summers, émigré designer Kem Weber’s transformation of laminated and pieced wood into a sophisticated cantilevered chair remains remarkable for its structural daring and clever knock-down construction. This particular chair was one of many that originally furnished one of Weber's important commissions of the 1930s, the new Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

Adapted from

Kevin W. Tucker, DMA unpublished material, 2006
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 262.
Charles Venable, Art Deco and Streamlined Modern Design, 1920-1950, label text 2006.42, 11/18/2001 to 5/20/2002

NOTES

Geo Xrefs - place of origin

Geo Xrefs - constituent birth and death place

Provenance

Bibliography

Text entries - added Object Receipt

Catalogue essays

20th Century Design: The 1930s

American and European Design - 1920 to 1960

The "International Style"

Streamlined Modern

The Impact of Cubism on Art Deco and Streamlined Modern

French Art Deco

Artist/designers

Weber_Kem: ULAN: 500112411

Karl Emmanuel Martin (Kem) Weber (American, 1889-1963)

Karl Emmanuel Martin (Kem) Weber biography

Cultures

Geography

Los Angeles (California): TGN: 7023900

Process/materials

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

1934-1935: Airline Chair Company, Los Angeles, California

About 1935: Walt Disney Productions, Burbank, California, commissioned from the above manufacturer [1]

Until 2006: Mark McDonald, Hudson, NY [1][2]

From 2006: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Mark McDonald, Hudson, NY on 10/20/2006 [1][2]

[1] According to the following document found in the DMA object file: Kevin W. Tucker, The Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, DMA Acquisition Justification (2006.42), 2006

[2] According to the following documents found in the DMA object file: DMA Acquisition Consideration form dated August 6, 2006, DMA Object receipt form dated September 21, 2006, Mark McDonald (dealer) Invoice dated September 29, 2006, DMA Committee on Collections dated October 4, 2006 , DMA Purchase Order dated October 13, 2006, DMA Committee on Collections record dated March 2, 2007

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

http://www.industrialdesignhistory.com/sites/default/files/images/Weber,%20Kem.preview.jpg

WEB RESOURCES

PBS American Experience~Read more about Industrial Designers and Streamliners
Kem Weber~Learn more about furniture and industrial designer Kem Weber

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS

In the late-1930s, Walt Disney commissioned Kem Weber to design the exterior and interior furnishings, including this "Airline" chair, for his new state-of the art animation studio in Burbank, California.

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where id equals 5328499

General Description

Giving objects, even stationary ones, streamlined shapes was seen as a sign of progress and dynamism in the Depression years of the 1930s. Thanks to the emerging profession of industrial design and the need to enhance slumping sales figures, streamlined silhouettes were given to everything from buildings to buses and from cocktail shakers to vacuum cleaners. Furthermore, the modernity of these products was often enhanced through the use of new materials, including plywood, plastic, chromed steel, and aluminum. The end result was fashionable yet relatively inexpensive products that could be consumed on a mass scale and were not restricted to the wealthy upper class.

This chair's smooth lines suggests the image of speed, and its strut-like components further nod to its Airline namesake. Its form represents a superlative achievement in proclaiming Machine Age sensibilities by means of a traditional furniture material--wood. Echoing the earlier efforts of European designers Marcel Breuer, Alvar Aalto, and Gerald Summers, émigré designer Kem Weber’s transformation of laminated and pieced wood into a sophisticated cantilevered chair remains remarkable for its structural daring and clever knock-down construction. This particular chair was one of many that originally furnished one of Weber's important commissions of the 1930s, the new Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.