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 ...

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,

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 Nelson, and many other ground-breakers.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Entenza, John 1905 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American architects Deaths from cancer in California People from Calumet, Michigan