Wright, Russel (1904-1976)

Russel Wright, born in Lebanon, Ohio in 1904, was a 20th century American industrial designer. His successful forty-year career spanned from the 1920s through the 1960s. During which time, he introduced modern design into the American home by creating household objects that were both aesthetically unique and commercially successful with the post-war consumer.

 

Wright began his training while still in high school at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. From there, he followed his family’s example pursuing legal studies at Princeton University where he realized his passion ultimately remained in the art field. He left Princeton and headed for New York City where his talent for industrial design flourished. Wright would remain in New York City for the duration of his professional career. In New York City, he immersed himself in theater design, and collaborated with contemporary industrial designers like Norman Bel Geddes and Henry Dreyfus on various projects. In 1927, he founded his own design firm, Russel Wright Studios, where he began casting his theater props in metal and marketing them as household items. 

 

Wright’s belief that the table was the center of the home led to his creation of fashionable housewares that were marketed and distributed to a broad consumer base. Wright's American Modern, manufactured between 1939 and 1959, was arguably the first embodiment of a truly American aesthetic. In the 1940s and 1950s, American designers gained international fame through the creation of innovative shapes. Building on the success of American Modern, Russel and wife Mary designed a series of fresh concepts in glass, ceramics, and plastic, all of organic or circular form and produced in colors ranging from white to earthy hues with names like Nutmeg and Pepper. Among his most outstanding designs were Casual China (1946), Pinch (1949), Highlight (1948), White Clover (1951), Residential (1953), Esquire (1955), and Flair (1959). 

 

These innovative wares, but especially American Modern, which remained in production for twenty years, transformed the American tabletop. More educated and wealthier than ever before, the American middle class often found the casual nature of such designs greatly appealing. The coupe-shaped plate that Wright featured in all of his pottery lines could be stacked to save space in the smaller houses and apartments of the era, and was perfect on buffet tables. Introduced before World War II, buffet-style dining became the norm in the 1940s and 1950s in many households, and as a result, many designers incorporated rimless, stackable plates into their lines. 

 

Wright continued to design for many companies throughout the 1960s. He died December 21, 1976. An iconic leader of 20th-century industrial design, his wares are still in demand today and actively licensed through his company, Russel Wright Studios.

Added to and finalized bio - JBA (12/4/2017)

Like Norman Bel Geddes and Henry Dreyfuss, Wright began his career in theater design, collaborating with Bel Geddes and Henry Dreyfuss in 1924. By 1927 he began casting his papier-mache theater props in metal, marketing them as household items. He then began to produce spun-aluminum objects such as pitchers and tea sets, which were so successful that he decided to open his own firm in 1930. Wright designed furniture for the Hollywood-Wakefield Company, metal accessories for the Chase Brass and Copper Company, and household products, including his most famous work, the "American Modern" ceramic dinnerware, conceived in 1937 and produced between 1939 and 1957. His domestic items and furniture adapt the streamlined aesthetic to minimal, organic forms. 

VIDEO ASSETS  

This piece of American dinnerware includes Russel Wright's trademarked signature which appeared on his products.

Source: P. Rollin, GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2, Wikimedia Commons, accessed July 13, 2016.

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