HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Paul Winthrop McCobb (June 5, 1917 – March 10, 1969) was an American modern furniture designer, textile designer, painter, and industrial designer.


Early life and education

Paul Winthrop McCobb was born on June 5, 1917, in
Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somervill ...
, to parents Winifred Leontine (née Caulfield) and Raymond Winthrop McCobb. His father's family was from
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
and his mother's family was from
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. His father was employed, as of 1920, as a men's clothing salesman. His mother was employed as a stenographer. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be an artist, and studied
drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...
and
painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
at the Vesper George School of Art in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
.'' Art Digest'', September 15, 1952, p. 19. He did not complete his course there, and enlisted in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
as a Private on December 5, 1942. While enlisted in the Army, he was in the Camouflage Corps of the Army Corps of Engineers and worked as an instructor of painted scenery. He only served for a short time and was released on medical discharge for hypertension in 1943.


Life and career

McCobb came to prominence as a design and decorating
consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...
for Martin Feinman's Modernage Furniture in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1948. While working at Modernage Furniture, McCobb met B.G. Mesberg. Mesberg and McCobb would later be business partners in the ''Planner'' and ''Directional'' furniture lines. The ''Planner'' series has become an emblem of 1950s American furniture. In 1955, he was married to Mary "Mollie" Frances Rogers, an interior designer. Together they had two children. He taught at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. While he became best known for his furniture designs, McCobb also designed
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
s and
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
s for CBS-Columbia and hi-fi consoles for
Bell & Howell Bell and Howell is a United States brand of cameras, lenses, and motion picture machinery. It was originally founded as a company in 1907, and headquartered in Wheeling, Illinois. The company was acquired by Böwe Systec in 2003. Since 2010, the ...
, along with other household items. His Planner line, manufactured by Winchendon Furniture Company, was among the best-selling contemporary furniture lines of the 1950s and was in continuous production from 1949 until 1964. McCobb's other well-known furniture lines include Predictor by O'Hearn Furniture, the Calvin Group by Calvin Furniture, Directional by Calvin Furniture, the Irwin Group by Calvin Furniture, and the Connoisseur Collection by H. Sacks and Sons.


Death and legacy

McCobb had been struggling with a long illness and died in his home at 1175 York Avenue in New York City, he was 51 years old. Since 2016, the rights to McCobb's furniture designs are managed by Form Portfolios. Form Portfolios is a Danish-American company that works with furniture manufacturers to bring back midcentury modern furniture designs. McCobb's work can be found in public museum collections, including at
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
,
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...
, the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
,
Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...
, and
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facil ...
. In 2021, the Johnson County Museum in
Overland Park Overland Park ( ) is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...
,
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, has held a posthumous exhibition, ''Paul McCobb: American Designer''. This exhibit came from the collection of Samuel Hildreth.


Awards

* 1950, 1951, 1953, 1958 – Good Design Award,
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
(MoMA), New York City, New York * 1953 – Industrial Product Award, Hardwood Institute *1953, 1955, 1958 – Furniture Design Award, Hardwood Institute *1953 – Trail Blazer Award, Home Fashion League *1959 – Contributions to Better Design Award,
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccobb, Paul 1917 births 1969 deaths American furniture designers Medford, Massachusetts Designers from New York City