Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
When Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman met and married in Detroit in 1948, they began a seven-decade love affair and creative partnership that would have a major impact on the aesthetic of California mid-century modernism.
At the time, Jerome was a charismatic World War II veteran, Evelyn a young assistant at Luce Lipton Interior Design Studio, where he first spied her folding fabric samples and presented her with a Milky Way bar.
Working out of their studio in Los Angeles, where they moved in 1952 to be part of California’s burgeoning design scene, the two would produce handcrafted case pieces, tapestries and other decorative objects in a variety of media, including ceramics, textiles, carved wood, mosaics and enamel.
The multifaceted pair collaborated with firms and designers such as Victor Gruen; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Paul McCobb; Steve Chase; and Arthur Elrod, an incredibly influential talent whose own clients included Frank and Lucille Capra, Hoagy Carmichael, Claudette Colbert, and more.
The Ackermans’ prolific body of work is distinguished by a hand-wrought sense of warmth and texture; a mix of folk art — like figuration and colorful abstraction; depictions of flowers, animals, children and mythical figures; and a belief in the Bauhaus principles of design. These days, their oeuvre proves very much in demand, and the Ackermans, in the tradition of husband-and-wife creators like the Eameses and Les Lalanne, rank among the most influential design couples in history.
Evelyn died in 2012 at age 88, while Jerome, known as Jerry, died in 2019. A testament to the renewed interest in their work, Pointed Leaf Press published Hand-in-Hand, Ceramics, Mosaics, Tapestries, and Woodcarvings by California Mid-Century Designers Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman in 2014, the first book to document the lives and careers of the couple.
Find vintage Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman furniture on 1stDibs.
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Aluminum
19th Century French Gustavian Antique Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Wood
19th Century Rustic Antique Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Iron
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Copper, Brass
Early 20th Century French Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Wood, Glass
1960s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Aluminum
1970s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Wood
19th Century Italian Antique Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Walnut
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Pine
Early 20th Century English Edwardian Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Brass
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Softwood
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman Building and Garden Elements
Softwood