Did you catch our last blog post, The Masters of Midcentury and Modern: Part 1? All one needs to do is scan an interior decorating magazine, Pinterest, or even Instagram to see that midcentury and modern design remains on practically everyone’s list of must haves. In our last post, we looked at Willy Rizzo, Romeo Rega and Syrie Maugham, and in Part 2 we take a look at Milo Baughman, Willy Daro and Maison Jansen. We think that it’s pretty clear why midcentury and modern design just isn’t going anywhere!
With an extensive career, Milo Baughman had a tremendous impact on furniture design. He worked from the 1940s until his death in 2003, and his success continued throughout this entire period. Born in 1923, he began to design furniture and interiors soon after graduating. His designs were practical, comfortable, unpretentious yet sleek and stylish. Some of his most iconic pieces were produced from 1953 onwards, when he began an association with Thayer Coggin Inc., such as the “951-103” chair (1962), “820-400” chaise (1954), “989-103” Lounge Chair and “955-304” Sofa. Baughman also lectured on modern design and championed the positive effect of interior design on the lives of people living within it. In his eyes, good design was crucial, but the pieces had to be functional as he once commented that:
“Furniture that is too obviously designed is very interesting, but too often belongs only in museums.”
Willy Daro owned Les Nouveaux Ateliers Willy Daro and worked in Brussels, from the late 1960’s to 1987. His pieces are fabulous examples of an eccentric, modern and bold style. He is particularly well known today for his lamps, where he often combined brass and chrome with large natural materials such as agate, semi-precious stones, coral and shells, or favoured botanical and floral sculptural forms. They were high-impact, and yet luxury pieces, and his lamps remain highly sought after today.
Established in 1880, Maison Jansen is an interior design firm based in Paris. Initially, they began with both interior design services and an antiques dealing business to serve their clients, but by the early 1890s they had progressed to manufacturing their own furniture. Maison Jansen produced contemporary pieces as well as reproduction furniture of the Louis X, Louis XI, Directoire and Empire styles. They were influenced by contemporary trends such as the Turkish style, the Vienna Seccession, and Modernism, in addition to the highly decorative reproduction antiques. Maison Jansen were patronised by a multitude of European royalty, Coco Chanel and even the Kennedy’s. In 1989, they closed down but Maison Jansen is still, today, considered to be one of the most influential design houses of the twentieth century.
Alexandra Kate
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