John Entenza (December 4, 1905 – April 27, 1984) was one of the pivotal figures in the growth of
American modernism: in the fields of environmental, architectural, landscape, and product design; and fine arts, and artisan crafts; in post-war
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Career
In 1940, John Entenza joined California Arts and Architecture magazine as editor. By 1943, he had completely overhauled the magazine and renamed it ''
Arts & Architecture Magazine''. During his editorship, ''Arts & Architecture Magazine'' championed all that was new in the arts, with special emphasis on emerging modernist
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. He made it the first American magazine to popularize the work of
Hans Hofmann,
Craig Ellwood
Craig Ellwood (April 22, 1922 – May 30, 1992) was an influential Los Angeles-based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Although untrained as an architect, Ellwood fashioned a persona and career ...
,
Margaret DePatta,
George Nakashima
George Katsutoshi Nakashima ( ja, 中島勝寿 ''Nakashima Katsutoshi'', May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was an American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a fathe ...
,
Bernard Rosenthal
Bernard J. Rosenthal (August 9, 1914 – July 28, 2009), also known as Tony Rosenthal, was an American Abstract art, abstract sculptor widely known for his monumental public art sculptures, created over seven decades.
Biography
Rosenthal was ...
,
Charles Eames,
Konrad Wachsmann
Konrad Wachsmann (May 16, 1901 in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany – November 25, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) was a German modernist architect. He is notable for his contribution to the mass production of building components.
Originally appre ...
,
Jan De Swart and many others. Entenza served as director of the
Graham Foundation
The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts is a 501(c)3 non-profit that “fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Graham realize ...
for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts in Chicago from 1960 until his retirement in 1971. He received a Distinguished Service citation from the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
.
He also served as a trustee of the
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Amon may refer to:
Mythology
* Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra
* Aamon, a Goetic demon
People Momonym
* Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah
Given name
* Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...
.
Entenza died of cancer in La Jolla, California at the age of 78.
Case Study Houses
Entenza's most lasting contribution was his sponsorship of the
Case Study Houses
The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by '' Arts & Architecture'' magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day, including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray ...
project, which featured the works of architects such as
Raphael Soriano
Raphael S. Soriano, FAIA, (August 1, 1904 – July 21, 1988) was an architect and educator, who helped define a period of 20th-century architecture that came to be known as Mid-century modern. He pioneered the use of modular prefabricated ...
,
Charles Eames,
Craig Ellwood
Craig Ellwood (April 22, 1922 – May 30, 1992) was an influential Los Angeles-based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Although untrained as an architect, Ellwood fashioned a persona and career ...
,
Pierre Koenig
Pierre Francis Koenig (October 17, 1925 – April 4, 2004) was an American architect and a Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California. He taught at the USC School of Architecture from 1964 until his death in 2004. H ...
,
A. Quincy Jones,
Richard Neutra
Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; April 8, 1892 – April 16, 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for the majority of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect.
He ...
,
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
,
Rodney Walker and
William Wurster
William Wilson Wurster (October 20, 1895 – September 19, 1973) was an American architect and architectural teacher at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, best known for his residential desig ...
. ''Arts & Architecture'' also ran articles and interviews on artists and designers such as
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...
,
Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...
,
George Nakashima
George Katsutoshi Nakashima ( ja, 中島勝寿 ''Nakashima Katsutoshi'', May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was an American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a fathe ...
,
George Nelson, and many other ground-breakers.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Entenza, John
1905 births
1984 deaths
20th-century American architects
Deaths from cancer in California
People from Calumet, Michigan