Bowl

James PrestiniWW-1933-125159

1933·Maple·11.7 × 26.4 cm (4 5/8 × 10 3/8 in.)

<p>After studying mechanical engineering at Yale, James Prestini taught the foundational course with László Moholy-Nagy at the Institute of Design. His work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, which provided him national exposure. Prestini crafted wood-turned bowls and platters between the years 1933 and 1953 in Chicago, examining the boundaries of art, craft and design while fulfilling the modernist agenda of harmonizing form and function. Prestini’s functional, thin-walled vessels convey refinement and beauty through the natural expression of the wood.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1933
Medium: Maple
Dimensions: 11.7 × 26.4 cm (4 5/8 × 10 3/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: James Prestini

Artist

James Prestini

Installation

James Prestini was an American woodturner and designer whose vessels defined postwar American craft modernism. Working primarily in wood on the lathe, he created forms of severe geometric purity, often turned from single blocks of exotic timber and finished to mirror-like surfaces. Prestini taught at the Institute of Design in Chicago, where his approach to functional form as sculptural statement influenced a generation of studio craftspeople. His work bridges industrial design rationalism and the emerging studio craft movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Waterford, CT, United States

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