Two discoveries made while in LA, courtesy of long-time Skinny laMinx fan, Melinda Forster and her journalist friend Andrew Romano, will stay with me for a long time.

ALVIN LUSTIG

Both discoveries came out of a visit arranged by Melinda to her Andrew’s extraordinary mid-century house on the hills in Silverlake. Andrew has an investigative journalist’s love for for research and for detail, so when he and his wife bought the house, reputed to be one of only two designed by graphic designer Alvin Lustig, he dived in deep, researching the house’s bona fides, and growing his collection of mid century Lustig-associated ephemera along the way.

As it was a private home, I didn’t take any photos while visiting, but fortunately, Andrew has documented his research at The Lustig House web page.

Although he is best known for his print design, Lustig was prolific across all design fields, including furniture, lamps, interiors, architecture, surface design… and even a helicopter!

 

Clockwise, L-R: Various book covers (lots more here) ; Standard light for Edgardo Contini, 1949 ; Chair for Paramount Furniture, 1950.

 

Of course, of special interest to me was his surface design, in particular these tiles on Andrew’s bathroom floor, which also grace the facade of the Beverley Carlton Hotel.

A Lustig textile is a pretty wonderful thing too.

Top: Incantation, for Laverne Originals in 1947
Bottom: Two designs for Anton Maix, 1949
Lustig died at the age of forty, which makes his extraordinary output even more impressive. If you’d like to find out more about his textiles, as well as an array of his other design work, dive into the Alvin Lustig website.

DOYLE LANE

While visiting the Lustig House, Andrew showed us another of his interests, which is collecting ceramics by mid-century LA artist, Doyle Lane. Lane is particularly well known for his virtuoso glaze technique, demonstrated here on these ‘weed pots’, pictured here. These tiny little vases, just big enough to hold a twig or a single stem of grass are enormously sought after, and serious collectors haunt LA yard sales in search of the holy grail.

If you found all this as interesting as I did, keep an eye on Andrew Romano’s blog, as well as the blog Esoteric Survey for updates on Doyle Lane finds and related mid-century enthusiasms.

PS: I doubt that I will ever be a custodian of a Doyle Lane piece, but I really am delighted to know the term ‘weed pot’, as it means I finally have a category in which to fit my ongoing tiny little ceramic efforts (below)