Heartbreaking, Funny, Inventive, Original Cliché: The Tour, Artworks, and Craftsmen of OBJECTS: USA
Gloria Evonne Dunlap
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the History of Decorative Arts
Masters Program in the History of Decorative Arts The Smithsonian Associates and Corcoran College of Art + Design
2011
This work was supported by a Craft Research Fund grant from the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, a center of UNC Asheville.
© 2011
Gloria Evonne Dunlap All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations ...... ii
Acknowledgements ...... iv
Chapter 1: “An Art Program for S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.” ...... 1
Chapter 2: “Something Other Art Forms Have Not…” ...... 20
Chapter 3: “Run, don’t walk.” ...... 45
Chapter 4: “An American Art Form” ...... 66
Bibliography ...... 87
Illustrations ...... 88
i Illustrations
Figure 1: Richard Shaw, Couch and Chair with Landscape and Cows
Figure 2: Kim Newcomb, Hot Dogs and Potato Chips
Figure 3: Michael Frimkess, Things Ain’t What They Used to Be
Figure 4: Sam Maloof, Cradle Cabinet
Figure 5: Wendell Castle, Desk
Figure 6: Wendell Castle, Table-Chair-Stool
Figure 7: Harvey Littleton, Falling Blue
Figure 8: Alma Lesch, Bathsheba’s Bedspread
Figure 9: Alma Lesch, Like Father, Like Son
Figure 10: Marilyn Pappas, Opera Coat
Figure 11: Jean Stamsta, Wild Sister and The Other Brother
Figure 12: Robert Arneson, Sink
Figure 13: Arline Fisch, Body Ornament (recto)
Figure 14: Arline Fisch, Body Ornament (verso)
Figure 15: Wendell Castle, Table
Figure 16: Carolyn Kriegman, Necklace
Figure 17: Howard Kottler, (Sticks) (Stones) > (Bones)
Figure 18: Dale Chihuly, Wine Bottle
Figure 19: Brent Kington, Air Machine
Figure 20: Brent Kington, A-Way-We-Go
Figure 21: Art Smith, Neckpiece
Figure 22: Lynda Watson, Landscape Neckpiece
ii Figure 23: Paul Hultberg, Johnson Together
Figure 24: Glen Michaels, Moon Crater #2
Figure 25: Aleksandra Kasuba, The Book
iii Acknowledgements
This thesis developed out of ideas I discovered in my first semester as a graduate student, writing about Howard Kottler in Proseminar. As I progressed through the program, I discovered more about OBJECTS: USA and the role it played in promoting American craftsmen. Many people supported and encouraged me through the process of discovering and writing about this amazing exhibition.
My thanks to the women at the Archives of American Art reading room, particularly Marisa Bourgoin. Also thanks to Terri Boesel of the S.C. Johnson Archives for pulling more information than I could have ever hoped to see regarding the exhibition. To Chris Admundsen and Jessica Shaykett of the American Craft Council, thank you for allowing me to be the first researcher in the new library in Minneapolis. Additional gratitude to Brian MacElhose of the Museum of Arts and Design for taking time to let me see the objects as well as providing me with many of the images used in this work.
I would also like to express my appreciation to Dr. Jeff Hardwick for being as excited about this idea as I am and providing sound writing advice and editing. Thanks to my fellow scholar, Julia Hood, for listening, talking through ideas, and understanding all of the frustration