THE WORK OF OSCAR NIEMEYER by Stamo Papdaki (Second Printing)
Reinhold Publishing, 1951. Stated Second Printing. Square Octavo. 228 pages approximately 350 illustrations from photographs, drawings, plans, and models for thirty-six buildings and projects, 1937-1950. Niemeyer is a Brazilian architect, influenced by Lucio Costo and Le Corbusier. He is still going strong at the age of 101! He is most famous for his work as chief architect of the futuristic metropolis of Brasilia and designed many of the government buildings in the capital city. He also collaborated with Le Corbusier on the design for the United Nations Headquarters in New York. He used a lot of reinforced concrete. Some people find his work in Brasilia profounding alienating, others think it is beautiful and uplifting. Get this book and decide for yourself!
CONDITION: Interior pages are clean and bright with no marks. There is some fainting pencil markings on the title page and a brown patch where a sticker used to be. The front endpaper has been cut out. Inside front cover has one small brown spot. Inside back cover has a small area where the top layer of paper has been lifted up. Cover has wear to top and bottom of spine and some bumping to corners. $25

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS: FURNITURE OF THE MASTERS by by Charles D. Gandy (First paperback edition)
McGraw-Hill Company 1981. Trade Paperback. 9 " x 7 1/2". 177 pages. Furniture designed by "the eight most renowned and influential furniture designers of the twentieth century." Includes Michael Thonet, Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, Hans J. Wegner, Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen. Lots of illustrations. Many classic pieces highlighted such as the Peacock Chair, Eames Lounge Chair, and the Womb Chair. (Alas, no Bubble Chair.) Includes bios of each designer, an index, and a bibliography.
CONDITION: No marks of any kind inside. Nice condition with just a smudge and one corner crease on the back cover. A little bit of cover edgewear and one crease across spine. $20

ART DECO (OF THE 20s AND 30s) by BEVIS HILLIER
Paperback. Studio Vista/Dutton, 1972 (reprint). 5" by 7". Well illustrated with 138 black and white images. This was the first book (in the 1960s) to be published on Art Deco. A pioneering study on the art movement, primarily a design style, which was extemely popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Art Deco was a follow-up style to the swirl-ier Art Nouveau. The Art Deco movement was dominant in fashion, furniture, jewelry, textiles, architecture, commercial printmaking, and interior decoration. Think Rene Lalique, Erté, and the Chrysler Building. Covers silver, jewelry, ceramics, glass, textiles, metalwork, architecture, etc. Bevis Hillier authored many books on Art Deco and was the editor of The Connoisseur Magazine. I'd sure like to see his house!
CONDITION: All interior pages are clean, with no marks. Front cover had bumping to lower right corner and one crease. Crease along spine from top to bottom. A bit of wear to top and bottom of spine and slight bumping to corners. $8 SOLD!

HOW TO SEE MODERN PICTURES by RALPH M. PEARSON (Fifth Printing)
The Dial Press 1934. (First published in 1925.) 228 pages. VERY ATTRACTIVE COVER, YES? Basic application of design principles as applied to modern art, with the goal of making such paintings and sculpture more accessible to the public. Discussion of concepts such as symmetry, relation of forms, and composition. "It is a guide, companion, and friend for the many perplexed and confused present-day amateurs of pictoral art." Judging by the lines at the new mega-MOMA, folks today have figured out how to enjoy seeing Modern pictures.
CONDITION: Price on pencil on endpaper. No marks on interior pages, which are clean and crisp. Tight binding. Red cloth cover is in great shape on the outside, but there is browning (from glue?) on inside front and back cover. The dust jacket is price-clipped. A few chips along top and bottom all around and one substantial chip on the upper back cover (about 1/4 inch wide by 3 inches long missing from top left.) $20

A MODERN DOLLHOUSE (WOMAN'S DAY. SEPTEMBER, 1956)
Here's an obscure item. I bought a box of old women's magazine from the 1950s. I was looking at all the funny ads inside and found an article that urges readers to order plans for a modernist doll house. Someday I hope to find the actual plans (not likely). This is a four-page article, with three pages in color. Depicts a little girl playing with the dollhouse, the front and back of the domicile (see photo left), and close-ups of various room with little doll people living the 50s life. Page 4 describes the house; exploded drawings illustrate. Teeny tiny modern furniture to boot. The dollhouse was designed by "a nationally known architect" named Robert A. Little. (Little studied under Gropius. He designed hundreds of buildings in Cleveland just passed away in August of 2005.)
CONDITION: The magazine cover has some small tears and creases and the lower right corners bent up. Three color pages are clean and bright. Two small tears along bottom of second and third pages. The newsprint page is browned at the edges. $10 SOLD!