SAM MALOOF WOODWORKER: LIFE/ART/LEGACY

Conceived as part of a year-long celebration of the Maloof Centennial, the exhibition will bring together more than 60 objects including examples of Maloof furniture, drawings, photographs, works of art, documents, video excerpts, ephemera and other items.

Although Maloof furniture has been displayed in dozens of exhibitions over the years at museum venues nationwide, no previous exhibition has been more ambitious in its efforts to chronicle Maloof’s lifelong journey as an artist and craftsperson. The exhibition will be organized thematically in four gallery spaces offering insights into Sam’s art, mentors, innovations and lasting impact.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Whether you do or not, the book that accompanies the exhibition, Sam Maloof: 36 Views of a Master Woodworker , skillfully weaves together the words of family, friends, and associates to present thirty-six perspectives on a great artist. The first craftsman to receive a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, a man whom his friend and fellow furniture maker Jimmy Carter called the best woodworker that ever lived, Sam Maloof was one of the great masters of midcentury modernism.