Max Jules Gottschalk (1909–2005) was an artist,

furniture designer This is a list of notable people whose primary occupation is furniture design. A * Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) * Eero Aarnio (born 1932) * Robert Adam (1728–1792) * Thomas Affleck (1745–1795) * Franco Albini (1905–1977) * Davis Allen ( ...

, and

industrial designer Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactu ...

History

Gottschalk was born in 1909 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. He graduated from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

in the late 1930s.

Newfoundland

Afterwards, he moved to the

Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the orig ...

where he worked as Chief Technical Advisor of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Reconstruction. The Newfoundland government assigned him the task of designing workshop

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

for the agricultural community of

Markland Markland () is the name given to one of three lands on North America's Atlantic shore discovered by Leif Eriksson around 1000 AD. It was located south of Helluland and north of Vinland. Although it was never recorded to be settled by Norsemen, ...

. His designs combined modernist principles with the use of natural materials. The onset World War II ended the government's

economic reconstruction Economic reconstruction is a process for creating a proactive vision of economic change. The most basic idea is that problems in the economy, such as deindustrialization, environmental decay, outsourcing, industrial incompetence, poverty and a ...

programs and Gottschalk's work.

Arizona

Gottschalk then returned to the United States, moving to

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. He became a professor of

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

at the new

Modernist style Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architecture wa ...

West Campus of

Pima Community College Pima Community College (PCC) is a Public university, public community college in Pima County, Arizona. It serves the Tucson, Arizona, Tucson metropolitan area with a community college district consisting of five campuses, four education centers, ...

. Gottschalk's most productive artistic period was in Arizona, from the 1950s to his death in 2005. His artistic interests included

mid-century modern Mid-century modern (MCM) is a movement in interior design, product design, graphic design, architecture and urban development that was present in all the world, but more popular in North America, Brazil and Europe from roughly 1945 to 197 ...

industrial design which combined "natural" materials like leather with production materials such as aluminum and steel. The result was beautifully proportioned work that embraced and embodied both the Southwestern aesthetic and Modern design principles. Gottschalk often worked with leather that was irregular and flawed, celebrating the material's imperfections. His distinctive logo appears on all of his products. He also created oil paintings.

Gallery

Examples of Gottschalk's work include: File:Max Gottschalk - Bar stool 1.jpg , 1970s Leather & Steel Chair – pair File:Max Gottschalk - Bar stool 3.jpg , 1970s Leather & Steel Chair – closeup File:Max Gottschalk - Bar stool 4.jpg , 1970s Leather & Steel Chair – feet File:Max Gottschalk - Bar stool 5.jpg , 1970s Leather & Steel Chair – front File:Max Gottschalk - Bar stool 6.jpg , 1970s Leather & Steel Chair – back w/logo File:Max Gottschalk - Bar stool 7.jpg , 1970s Leather & Steel Chair – side Image:Gottschalk_Barsool_Logo.jpg, 1960s era Barstool – Logo Image:Gottschalk Chair Logo 01-72dpi.jpg , 1970s Leather & Aluminum Chair – Logo Image:Gottschall Chair Front 01.jpg , 1970s Leather & Aluminum Chair – Front #1 Image:Gottschalk Chair Top 01.jpg , 1970s Leather & Aluminum Chair – Top Image:Gottschalk Chair Side 01.jpg , 1970s Leather & Aluminum Chair – Side

References

* Donald Wilcox, ''Modern Leather Design'', Watson Guptill, New York, 1982.

External links