Maloof Museum Visit - Pics

glenn bradley

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Riverside Art Gallery (California) has been hosting some of Sam's work. I was waiting to go till the 21st when he was scheduled to speak; I went today. It is definitely an experience to look, touch, lounge on and be inspired by his work. The show runs through July 2.
 

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I definitely admire his work, although I wonder if those joints would hold up to my 240 lbs. :D I really admired his work until I saw that gray hair and receding hair line in the first pic...just kidding Glenn...I have no room to talk!:rofl:

Thanks for posting the pics, those are some beautiful pieces.
 
"is that rocker and double settee walnut or rosewood?"

I hear ya. they look like they must've come from the same batch. Almost all the pieces were walnut; some with ebony accents. The four-way music stand was tiger maple and ebony. Some incredible figure but, according to a book I was reading Sam had a voluminous stock of material, some of which waited patiently for many years for him to decide just what it should become.

Here's a communion table, cross and lectern that were part of the pieces shown. The cross pieces are round and about 5 inches in diameter.
 

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Sam is one of my admired woodworkers/designers, I really like all his curvy shapes and the way different planes connect to each other.

Thanks for posting Glenn! :thumb:
 
I'm jealous. I'd love to see that exhibition. (Or any other Maloof exhibition, for that matter.) His style of furniture is my favorite by far.

Regarding his awesome lumber selection, I recall reading somewhere about him having something like a million board feet of lumber accumulated in his storehouse when he died. Apparently much of it he'd had for decades, and a lot of it had been given to him.
 
Cool - I love looking at it.

Don't know if you were able to touch - but I bet it was silky smooth.

The pieces were openly displayed and as I had Friday off and very few people were around (sneaky glance from side-to-side) I did have a seat in a few of the pieces. They appear so graceful but are quite strong.

Interesting combination of his smooth almost organic lines combined with a large NE top:
 

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I don't know if Glenn remembers---The son of a neighbor (2 or 3 doors north) was an apprentice of Sam's. I know I have been in Sam's house and shop and I imagine Glenn has also.

This was a hundred years ago. The sawdust on the floor was a couple inches thick...no DC. There was a one-way door between the home and the shop. You could go from house to shop...However, you could not return that way. You had to go out of the shop...change clothes...clean-up, etc. before returning to the house via the outside door.

Lena Pock, a very good friend of mine (many people thought she was my sister) purchased a rocking chair for her husband. It took something like a year before it was finished. Of course it was beautiful. It cost Lee $400.oo, which I thought was a horrible price. Rudy passed away many years ago. I assume, what is now, Lee's chair is worth, at least, 10X what she paid.

The reason the price seemed so high to me was that I didn't know squat about woodworking or how famous Sam was.

Oh by the way, the home was really interesting. There was no doubt that it was decorated by someone with an extremely good eye. It was (probably still is) a very warm, friendly home. A few years ago the government moved it to a new location because it was in the way of a freeway development. I forget the cost to move the house, but it was definitely enough to retire on.

Pardon the rambling. Enjoy,

Jim
 
Regarding his awesome lumber selection, I recall reading somewhere about him having something like a million board feet of lumber accumulated in his storehouse when he died. Apparently much of it he'd had for decades, and a lot of it had been given to him.
Sam told a story about buying wood one time when I was visiting. He said he gets a call from the local wood supply place every now and then, telling him they have some really nice wood and is he interested. He said he always responds, "Roz won't let me buy any more wood." (Roz is his business manager)

Roz picked up the story then and said, "I can't tell Sam not to buy any more wood."

"I hear them talking some more, and then Sam says, 'Send me a couple of sample pieces.' Next thing I know, there's a truck backing up to the warehouse with a load of lumber and I get an invoice."

Mike
 
I too am a big Maloof Fan

I was lucky enough to attend a workshop he held in his shop and he gladly shared how to make his table and chairs both stationary and his rockers. I've made serveral of his tables and a few of the chairs. I think that if things slow down in my shop, I'll make a set of table and 4 chairs just the way he taught. I'll always treasure what he taught and now the book he signed for me means even more to me.
 
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