Monumental Paul Evans Citiscape Chrome & Brass Shelving Unit c.1975
View Similar Items
Monumental Paul Evans Citiscape Chrome & Brass Shelving Unit c.1975
About the Item
- Creator:Paul Evans (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 84 in (213.36 cm)Width: 109.5 in (278.13 cm)Depth: 14 in (35.56 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c1975
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: 500951stDibs: LU84011061572
Paul Evans
A designer and sculptor, Paul Evans was a wild card of late 20th century modernism. A leading light of the American Studio Furniture movement, Evans’s sideboards, credenzas, coffee tables and other work manifests a singular aesthetic sense, as well as a seemingly contradictory appreciation for both folk art forms and for new materials and technologies.
Evans’s primary material was metal, not wood, which was favored by his fellow studio designers, and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, neighbors George Nakashima and Phillip Lloyd Powell. He trained in metallurgy and studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, the famed crucible of modern design and art in suburban Detroit. For a time early in his career, Evans also worked at Sturbridge Village, a historical “living museum” in Massachusetts, where he gave demonstrations as a costumed silversmith.
Evans’s earliest work unites these influences. The pieces that made his reputation are known as “sculpted-front” cabinets: wood cases faced with box-like high-relief patinated steel mounts laid out in a grid pattern. Each mount contains a metal emblem, or glyph, and the effect is that of a brawny quilt.
Evans’s later work falls into three distinct style groups. His sculpted-bronze pieces, begun in the mid-1960s, show Evans at his most expressive. He employed a technique in which resin is hand-shaped, and later sprayed with a metal coating, allowing for artistic nuance in the making of chairs, tables and case pieces. Later in the decade and into the 1970s, Evans produced his Argente series for celebrated manufacturer Directional (a brand known to vintage mid-century modern furniture collectors everywhere): consoles and other furniture forms that feature aluminum and pigment-infused metal surfaces welded into abstract organic forms and patterns.
Last, Evans's Cityscape design series — a milestone in the history of brutalist design — meshed perfectly with the sleek, “high tech” sensibility of the later ’70s. Evans constructed boxy forms and faced them with irregular mosaic patterns that mixed rectangular plaques of chromed steel, bronze or burlwood veneer. These, like all of Paul Evans’s designs, are both useful and eye-catching. But their appeal has another, more visceral quality: these pieces have clearly been touched by an artist’s hand.
Find a collection of authentic Paul Evans furniture today on 1stDibs.
- Paul Evans Sculpted Bronze Wall-Mounted Shelving Unit, First Year of ProductionBy Directional, Paul EvansLocated in Dallas, TXPaul Evans 'Sculpted Bronze Series' wall unit acquired from the original owner who acquired it from the Directional showroom in NYC. This unit is signed PE and is dated from the very first year of production, 1969. It is in very good original condition with bronze glass shelves...Category
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
MaterialsBronze
- Paul Evans Cityscape Chrome and Glass ShelfBy Paul EvansLocated in Los Angeles, CAPaul Evans Cityscape with Chrome Holders and Glass Shelf. In original condition with visible wear, consistent with age and use. New glass plate. Another available in brass.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsChrome
- Cityscape wall unit with display shelf Paul EvansBy Paul EvansLocated in Atlanta, GAA custom made large wall unit by Paul Evans Studio for Directional. It consists of four portals with cityscape brass and chrome patchwork that support eight smoke glass shelves and a...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Shelves
MaterialsBrass
- Paul Evans Cityscape Brass and Glass ShelfBy Paul EvansLocated in Los Angeles, CAPaul Evans Cityscape with brass holders and glass shelf. In original condition with visible wear, consistent with age and use. Another available in chrome.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsBrass
- Set Paul Evans for Directional Chrome Brass Cityscape Shelf Brackets ConsoleBy Paul EvansLocated in Pemberton, NJStunning set signed Paul Evans for Directional shelf brackets or console tables. The glass is not pictured but is included and is 12" w x 48" l and is brand new. This set is truly fa...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
MaterialsBrass, Chrome
- Impressive Mid-Century Modern Paul Evans Chrome ÉtagèreBy Paul EvansLocated in Brooklyn, NYA stunning vintage modern signed Paul Evans patchwork bookcase with three thick smoked glass inserts as shelves. The functional and sleek design offers plenty of room to store and di...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsChrome