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  • Sam Maloof Coffee Table, Owned by Painter Karl Benjamin with Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler (Coffee table created 1958)

    Sam Maloof

    This walnut and Formica coffee table was made by Sam Maloof for his Claremont friend and colleague, the painter Karl Benjamin (born 1925). It has been at the center of the Benjamin home and family for more than fifty years, a symbol of the abiding friendship between these two extraordinary artists. The piece underscores the close, cordial relationship that existed between the two artists who, while working in different media and from widely divergent points of view, were nonetheless supportive of each other’s work. Gertrud and Otto Natzler were among the most progressive and highly respected ceramists working in the greater Los Angeles area in the period following World War II. Their elegantly proportioned vessels introduced to Southern California a new European design aesthetic, with simplicity of shape, minimal surface decoration, and great diversity of color and texture. The couple produced work collaboratively, with Gertrud throwing her remarkably thin-walled vessels on a potter’s wheel and Otto, her husband, developing the rich mix of glazes and dramatic surface effects that came to characterize their most extraordinary work. In this group of objects, the juxtaposition of the oval folded bowl of 1947 with the low folded bowl, made circa 1950, indicates how dramatically the use of different glaze colors and textures can alter the fundamental nature of a ceramic form. The large conical bottle made in 1958 demonstrates how grand their forms became as a result of Gertrud’s ability to throw a monumental vessel on her wheel. It also provides a fine example of Otto’s extraordinary glazes. The large shallow bowl (1958) is an exceptional example of Otto’s signature crater glaze.

    Collection of Karl Benjamin © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Upholstered, Double Flared-Back Occasional Chair with Sculptured Arms (1958)

    Sam Maloof


    Walnut and wool 39 1/2 x 27 1/4 x 27 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Occasional "String" Chair (1950)

    Sam Maloof



    Walnut, maple, and cord 29 ½ x 24 x 33 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens

  • Desk Hutch (1970)

    Sam Maloof


    Walnut 71 5/8 x 43 7/8 x 21 3/4 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Alfreda Maloof in the Dining Room of the Maloof Home (ca. 1964)

    Sam Maloof



    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts

  • Double Music Stand and Chair (Double Music Stand: 1969: Chair: 1972)

    Sam Maloof


    Brazilian rosewood Stand: 44 1/2 x 51 x 30 1/2 in.; chair: 29 x 24 x 18 3/4 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © John Sullivan, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Chair (1984)

    Sam Maloof


    Fiddle-back maple and ebony 46 1/2 x 25 1/2 x 23 3/4 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Free-Standing Cradle (1992, form introduced in 1975)

    Sam Maloof


    Walnut 51 3/4 x 46 1/2 x 32 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Hornback Chair with Spindles and Low Curving Arms (1960)

    Sam Maloof

    With its long flowing lines and elegant proportions, the hornback chair is among Sam Maloof's most popular and enduring designs. Introduced with this prototype about 1960, its curving top rail extends outward from the body of the hornlike chair. The downward bend of the arms of this chair serves as a counterpoint to the rising curve of the top rail, creating a balanced three-dimensional composition. Eventually, with even longer and more sharpened ends, the hornback was renamed the Texas chair in 1984.
    Walnut and leather 37 1/2 x 21 1/2 x 23 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Ferrets (1952)

    Betty Davenport Ford


    Stoneware 12 1/2 x 10 x 7 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

  • Early Morning Patzcuaro (1947-48)

    Millard Sheets


    Watercolor on paper 39 x 29 1/4 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Ceramic Group (1950)

    Ward Youry


    Stoneware Various dimensions
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Abstraction (1955)

    Karl Benjamin


    Oil on canvas 30 x 48 in
    Collection of the artist, Claremont, California. Courtesy of Louis Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood, California © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Spear Fishers #1 (1955)

    Phil Dike


    Watercolor on paper 21 1/2 x 14 1/2 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Rocking Chair for Alfreda (1982)

    Sam Maloof


    Walnut with inlay 45 3/4 x 27 x 46 1/2 in
    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Slimen Maloof, Mentone, California © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Sam Maloof in Workshop with Hornback Chairs (ca. 1960)

    Alfreda Maloof



    Alfreda Maloof, courtesy of the Maloof Foundation © Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.

  • Tan Gourd Vase (1952)

    Harrison McIntosh


    Stoneware 9 1/2 x 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 in
    Collection of Catherine McIntosh, Claremont, California © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Marugawa I-III (detail) (1974-75)

    Kay Sekimachi


    Natural linen
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Herrons (1950)

    Albert Stewart


    Wood 41 x 12 1/2 in
    Collection of Patricia Stewart Jump, Ventura, California © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Desk Hutch (detail) (1970)

    Sam Maloof


    Walnut 71 5/8 x 43 7/8 x 21 3/4 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Reclining Figure (year unknown)

    Jackson Woolley


    Enamel on copper 12 x 18 in
    Collection of the Enamel Arts Foundation, Los Angeles, California © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  • Forest Scene (1973)

    Milford Zornes


    Watercolor on paper 21 x 29 in
    Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

The House That Sam Built: Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomona Valley, 1945-1985

Woodworker Sam Maloof became a nationally recognized leader of the American studio furniture —a movement that favored the aesthetics of craft and the handmade over the machine and mass-production. The House that Sam Built will showcase classic examples of his work, spanning more that twenty-five years of his career, alongside approximately eighty works by his friends and colleagues. The exhibition sheds new light on the rich network of influences and exchanges that developed among artists and artisans living in the Pomona Valley in this dynamic period of American art.
09/24/2011 – 01/30/2012
Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108