Custom "Cityscape" Executive Desk by Paul Evans
View Similar Items
Custom "Cityscape" Executive Desk by Paul Evans
About the Item
- Creator:Directional (Manufacturer),Paul Evans (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 96.25 in (244.48 cm)Depth: 66 in (167.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:North Hollywood, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU127025515063
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.
Directional
A brand known to vintage mid-century modern furniture collectors everywhere, Directional Furniture opened its doors after American furniture designer Paul McCobb created the high-end Directional Modern line of sofas distributed by the New York–based Modernage Company.
In his pivotal introduction of postwar modernism to the mass market, the revered Massachusetts-born McCobb had established several lines, from the affordable and refined Planner Group for Winchendon to the swooping and unexpected arms of the Symmetric Group for Widdicomb, a Shaker-inspired collection that included a sofa and a lounge chair. Like all of McCobb’s designs, the Directional pieces for Modernage are defined by a sleek aesthetic in which the focus is on elegant functionality, frequently using fine materials such as brass and walnut. In 1949, in partnership with New York furniture salesman B.G. Mesberg, McCobb set up the Directional Furniture Company.
The pair’s first pieces were upholstered chairs, intended to harmonize with the modular Multiplex pieces designed by Martin Feinman. McCobb then designed an array of furniture including storage, dining, seating, desks and other pieces with details such as leather tops, wood finishes and Roman Travertine surfaces. While Directional stopped production of McCobb’s work in the early 1960s, it still released numerous pieces by leading designers manufactured by a variety of companies.
Designer Paul Evans led the factory for a time after joining in 1964. His provocative work for the company often reflected his understanding of materials from his early training as a silversmith, such as the popular Cityscape series — a milestone in brutalist design — with its blocky forms accented with brass and chrome. At his shop in Lambertville, New Jersey, he collaborated with a design team to clad furniture pieces in metallic surfaces, like the Argente line that began production in 1968 and involved an acetylene torch to give its aluminum material a textural quality. He also worked on the Sculpted Bronze series with hand-formed resin shaped over plywood or steel that was then coated with atomized bronze.
Other Directional designers included Vladimir Kagan, who contributed biomorphic sofas and swivel chairs; Milo Baughman, who created tables and dressers inspired by Scandinavian modernism; and Jack Lenor Larsen, who covered sofas in dynamically patterned fabric.
Find authentic Directional Furniture seating, tables, case pieces and storage cabinets from top sellers around the world on 1stDibs.
- Vintage Walnut Executive Desk by Florence KnollBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in North Hollywood, CAAmazing vintage executive desk designed by architect and furniture designer Florence Knoll in the United States, circa 1960s. This iconic design...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Danish Modern Teak Executive Desk by Ib Kofod LarsenBy Ib Kofod-Larsen, Amir FarrLocated in North Hollywood, CAAmazing Danish teak executive desk designed by Ib Kofod Larsen for Faarup Møbelfabrik in Denmark, circa 1960s. This desk has a versatile and functional design. fine attention to deta...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsTeak
- Danish Modern Executive Brazilian Rosewood DeskLocated in North Hollywood, CAWonderful Danish modern executive rosewood desk designed and manufactured in Denmark, circa 1960s. This desk has a very particula...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsChrome
- Vintage Art Deco "Fletcher Aviation" Executive Desk by Frank FletcherBy Frank Fletcher, Fletcher AviationLocated in North Hollywood, CABeautiful vintage Art Deco “Fletcher Aviation” designed by Frank Fletcher for Fletcher Aviation in the United States, circa 1940s. Due to its design and...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsMetal
- Vintage Embossed Leather Desk by Karl SpringerBy Karl SpringerLocated in North Hollywood, CAAn elegant vintage leather desk designed by iconic designer Karl Springer in the United States, circa 1970s. Standing out for its minimalist design, this desk has 2 large drawers that are great for storing documents and office supplies...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Midcentury German Rosewood "Omega" Desk by Hans EichenbergBy Haussmann & Haussmann, Hans EichenbergerLocated in North Hollywood, CAWonderful midcentury rosewood “Omega” desk designed by Hans Eichenberger for Haussmann and Haussmann in Germany, circa 1950s. This desk has a Minimalist but highly functional design....Category
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsChrome
- 1968 Executive DeskBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Hanover, MAExecutive desk formerly belonging to noted architect George M. Notter, (1933–2007) of the Boston firm Anderson Notter Finegold (now known as Finegold Alexander Architects). Current institutional memory at the firm suggests it was a special order from Herman Miller for the then new New York offices of MGM, however Herman Miller's archivist was unable to confirm. Styling, particularly the distinctive slim milled aluminum tracks through which the entire drawer carriage glides is clearly similar to Warren Platner's designs for Lehigh-Leopold which were then among the most costly of executive office furnishings. The bent flat bar chromed steel base with its distinctive pigeon toe splay is somewhat similar to a table base in Stow Davis' Electa Series, designed by Alexis Yermakov circa 1971. Walnut laminate top is very clean with no issues. One one corner edge shows a small separation. The only identifying markings are within the milled aluminum channel: G.P. F.I. 2 And the date Dec. 20, 1968. See image 18. Between the rectangular laminate top and the chrome base is a heavy blackened steel plate. Underneath the bent chrome pigeon toe feet are bars of a thick phenolic material which act as floor protector. We can have keys made to fit the two locking drawers. Tim Anderson...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsAluminum, Steel, Chrome
$6,500 - Executive Abbondi Desk, 1970s ItalyLocated in Los Angeles, CAStunning Italian executive desk in a dark Rosewood. Three pull-out drawers flank each side. Lockable drawers with original locks. Solid aluminum frame with unusual, rounded corners o...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsAluminum
- Large Midcentury Italian Executive Desk by Vittorio DassiBy Vittorio DassiLocated in Saint-Ouen, FRThis impressive executive desk by the 1950s Italian designer, Vittorio Dassi, features a very comfortable 1.5 cm thick floating glass top, unde...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBrass
- American Walnut & Brass Vintage Executive DeskLocated in Brooklyn, NYRevive the hustle and bustle of the mid-century American workplace with this jaw-dropping walnut executive desk. Boasting a newly refinished walnut top measuring over 14 square feet ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBrass
$1,960 Sale Price30% Off - Executive Desk, Corner Desk in Mahogany, Germany, 1970'sBy Arne Vodder, Johannes AndersenLocated in Wiesbaden, DEBeautifully designed writing desk in teak. With a very distinct design this desks every wood surface has been given specific angles such as the tabletop, the unit with drawers as wel...Category
Mid-20th Century German Scandinavian Modern Desks
MaterialsMetal
- Dunbar Contract Division Mid Century Executive DeskBy Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Countryside, ILDunbar contract division Mid Century executive desk Desk measures: 72 wide x 36 deep x 28.5 inches high All pieces of furniture ca...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsPlexiglass, Wood