FSW-8 (Folding Screen Wood) Designer: Charles Eames (American, 1907–1978)
Designer: Ray Eames (American, 1912–1988)
Manufacturer: Herman Miller, Inc. (American, founded 1923)

1946–55

American Decorative Arts

On view, 3rd floor, Modern and Contemporary Art and Design

The popularity of ranch-style and open-plan houses in the post–World War II period led to a renewed interest in freestanding screens. Ray and Charles Eames produced a screen that was ideally suited to modern taste and that had little formal relationship to the screens used in late nineteenth-century homes. Their design, the Folding Screen Wood, consisted of a series of panels of bent plywood linked by canvas webbing. The sections could move forward or backward, allowing the screen to take on an infinite variety of shapes. The undulating lines echoed contemporary sculpture and freeform design. This example was originally used in a student space at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Medium

Douglas fir plywood with calico ash veneer, canvas tape, and glue

Dimensions

67 7/8 × 80 × 2 1/2 in. (172.4 × 203.2 × 6.35 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Randall Garrett, B.A. 1972, M.A. 1975

Accession Number

2012.70.1

Culture
Period

20th century

Classification
Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

Provenance

The screen was one of a group of FSW's bought by UCLA in the early 1950's. Marilyn Neuhart was working at UCLA several years later when the university decided to sell them. She and her husband John, an Eames Office employee, picked this one out as an outstanding example. The donor bought it from the Neuharts in the mid 1990's.
Bibliography
  • "Acquisitions," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin: Online Supplement (accessed December 21, 2012), 15
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