Investing in Mid-Century Modern
There was a time when investors actively sought out fine French furniture and collected it as a form of investing. In the late 1990′s, the attention switched from gaudy French furniture to the sleek and cool stylings of mid-century masters like Ray and Charles Eames, Harry Bertoia and descendants of the European Bauhaus movement. This was mainly because of the internet boom that these years saw, but also because this boom increased the wealth of much-younger investors who wanted something more streamlined and less stuffy.
As an article from CNBC titled Sitting on a Small Fortune states, these people weren’t “interested in filling their Silicon Valley mansions with museum pieces; these inventors of the future wanted a look that that leaned forward.”
It raises a good point that people should take into consideration when buying pieces like an Eames Lounge Chair or a Saarinen Table and face sticker shock, you’re not just buying a chair or a table at that point. You are taking your hard-earned money and really investing it in something that has value and can even be passed down like a family heirloom. The key is to do your research and always make sure you’re buying an authorized and authentic product.
(By the way, if you are looking to do some “alternative investing” don’t forget that this is the last weekend of the Herman Miller Holiday Sale!)
Eames: The Architect and the Painter
What’s better than a documentary about design? How about a documentary about famous designers Ray and Charles Eames?
If that got you a little excited then you’re in luck because First Run Features has released, and is now showing, Eames: The Architect and the Painter.
From First Run Features:
“The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America’s most important designers. Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind-bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multi-media exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys. But their personal lives and influence on significant events in American life – from the development of modernism, to the rise of the computer age – has been less widely understood. Narrated by James Franco, Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the first film dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work.”
Check out a trailer to the movie.
For those of you living here in DC, the documentary won’t premiere until February 12, 2012 at the National Gallery of Art. A full listing of release dates and cities can be found here.
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