biography of george nakashima, japanese-american self-taught sculptor and woodworker ............................................................................................
......................... shop .................. competitions .............. education ................ interviews ................... snapshots ................... history .......... contemporary
- june 2002 - george nakashima (1905-1990) was born in spokane, washington. the first son of a newspaper reporter of samurai lineage named katsuharu nakashima and his wife suzu. he graduated from the graduated from the university of washington in 1929 and from the M.I.T. with a master's in architecture in 1930 and then worked as a mural painter and architectural designer in the new york area. in 1933 he moved to paris, and the next year joined the tokyo architectural offices of antonin raymond. in 1937 he volunteered to design and supervise construction at a religious sanctuary in pondicherry, india. because of his deep transformation of consciousness at the sri aurobindo ashram 1937-39, - and was given the sanskrit name 'sundarananda' (one who delights in beauty) by sri aurobindo himself - his work thereafter was propelled by a religious fervor. he believed that it is necessary to remove the desire to promote one's individual ego from the creative process and to devote work each day to the divine, a concept quite contrary to mainstream western culture. nakashima returned to japan, met american-born marion okajima who was to become his wife, and went back to seattle in 1940. nakashima and his wife had just opened a furniture workshop in seattle when world war II started. like other japanese americans, they were interned in a camp before being allowed to move to rural southeastern pennsylvania. in the camp on the idaho desert, he learned his craft from a japanese carpenter. in 1943 nakashima resettled in new hope, pennsylvania, to set up a studio and woodworking shop. the nakashima woodworking concern was only a one-man operation in the very beginning. nakashima employed some of the world's finest craftsmen who remain devoted to the man and his ideas, and after 40 years of service are still working at the nakashima studio today, which is operated by his daughter, mira nakashima-yarnall. george nakashima died at age 85 in 1990. his major commissions included furnishings for the late new york governor nelson a. rockefeller's home, interiors for columbia university, the church of christ the king in katsura, kyoto, the international paper corporation, and the monastery of christ in the desert as well as the altars of peace. (the altars of peace are now installed in new york city, auroville / india, and the academy of art in moscow / russia) nakashima designed a series of furniture for knoll in 1946, although he maintained the production rights, selling the same pieces from his own shop. book: george nakashima 'the soul of a tree: a woodworker's reflection' kodansha international ltd., new york, 1981 recent exhibition 'george nakashima and the modernist moment' james a michener art museum, 2001 his works are represented in the most important collections in the world, including the new york metropolitan museum, the boston museum of fine arts, the victoria and albert museum in london, and the national museum of modern art in tokyo. --- http://www.nakashimafoundation.org/dream.htm ------------------- - see nakashima's tables --- --- ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? -------	george nakashima courtesy mira nakashima-yarnall spindle-back conoid bench, 1960 'long chair', 1951 'conoid' dining chair, 1960 'conoid cushion chair', 1961 bench, 1960 rocking chair, 1955 grass seated chair, 1944