Mid Century Modernism - The New Hot Collecting Area

Presented by David Skelley,
owner of Boomerang For Modernism

In the late 1940’s and 1950’s a new wave of design ideas took the USA by storm. It was fun, wacky, wild and wonderful! The coconut chair! The marshmallow sofa! It was made of plastic, chrome, plexiglas, it was red, lime green, chrome yellow, it stacked, it swooped, it flexed and it was A BLAST!

Constructed of materials and technologies developed for the war effort, it was a complete change from the stuffy ‘early American’ furniture and furnishings of the past. It was for the middle class and was made of relatively inexpensive materials to be functional, moved around, and lived-in. Furniture, lighting, and accessories unlike any seen before in the home.

As with all design trends, Modernism faded into the past, but now it is the hottest selling item in the antiques and collectibles field. In New York & Chicago auction sales in November Modernism was hotter than Old Masters, with collectors paying five and six figures for some coveted pieces.

David Skelley, the owner of San Diego’s finest store specializing in Mid Century Modernism since in 1985, will take you on a discovery “tour” of just what is Modernism, how to recognize important pieces by Charles Eames, George Nelson, Harry Bertoia and many others, and what is selling here in San Diego county. These pieces can sneak right past you at an estate sale, or at an appraisal site, so don’t miss out on the “buzz” about this exciting collecting field.