Born in Spokane, near Seattle in 1905 to Japanese parents, George Nakashima may be considered one of the fathers of American craftsmanship.
An architect and cabinetmaker, he joined the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) from which he graduated in 1929. From the beginning of the 1930s, following the Great Depression that hit the United States, George Nakashima undertook a trip around the world in order to draw the inspiration that would be essential in his future creations. His first stop was Paris, then he went to Japan where he met Antonin Raymond, a close collaborator of Frank Lloyd Wright, with whom he worked before going to India in 1937 at his request, where he contributed to the building of the Sro Orobindo Ashram, the architect of Indian independence.
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In 1940, George Nakashima returned to the United States where he began to learn woodworking in order to make his own furniture. But because of his Japanese origins, he was placed in a detention camp in Idaho. It is during this period that he perfected his woodworking technique, with a Japanese master carpenter, Gentaro, Hikogawa, working, according to traditional Japanese techniques, particularly on reclaimed woods of various shapes, origins and tonalities, which we will find later on in most of his creations from the simplest to the most unique and iconic.
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Released from prison in 1943, George Nakashima settled in New Hope, Pennsylvania, in the heart of vast forests where he built his house and developed his cabinet making activity, which he never stopped perfecting. This region reminds him of his youth where he is in permanent contact with nature. Accustomed to long solitary walks in the forest, George Nakashima enjoys the silent company of the trees he observes. In contact with them, he develops a kind of animism that will never leave him.
From this period, a new chapter opens for him, that of his own creation and realization, which he describes through this quotation "I now seek to develop the concept of craftsmanship in a world that is then accustomed to mass products".
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How can we try to define the style of George Nakashima, a unique style where the material is the foundation of all creation. The real starting point of any realization is wood and raw wood exclusively. Contrary to industrial design which starts from the drawing and the research of the most suitable material, George Nakashima reverses the logic by always starting from the material, so that each wooden board will guide the object thought and manufactured according to its shape. "George Nakashima's craftsmanship is not only a personal creation but also responds to philosophical concepts inspired by the great Japanese masters."
George Nakashima's work is divided between numerous special commissions, the most important of which is probably the one made for the Rockefeller family in 1973, and spontaneous or repeated creations sold in the workshop-boutique in New Hope.
Result : 33800 € on 11.16.2017 | Result : 151200 € on 09.16.2015 |
Thus, we can say that the work of George Nakashima, emphasizes the natural beauty and simplicity of the wood, with rough edges, close to a philosophy that cultivates an aesthetic of the unfinished. While developing refined and precise assembly techniques, he likes to combine traditional American and Japanese styles with modern style.
Finally, it is characteristic in George Nakashima's work to play with contrasts of colours and materials, typical of his creations.
In 1983, George Nakashima was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, which is synonymous with the recognition of the importance of his work in the field of international arts and crafts.
