BRIGHT LYONS

Paper Rad dolls by Jessica Ciocci. Circa 2000 to 2007

2012-02-24T17:02:00.001-05:00

Great single bay Nelson CSS with and without stuff. You can never have enough cubbies.

2012-02-23T16:27:00.001-05:00

Did I already mention these Braniff Airlines posters printed on foil? Well they are awesome

2012-02-23T16:24:00.001-05:00

Mies takes Toronto 1965

2012-02-22T10:58:00.001-05:00

Who Texted by Eric White.

2012-02-22T10:47:00.001-05:00

I baked an Apple Pie!

2012-02-22T10:40:00.001-05:00

Peter Teubner 1968 Subway poster for City of New York

2012-02-21T16:56:00.001-05:00

George Nelson first coffee table for Herman Miller 1945.

2012-02-21T16:47:00.001-05:00

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen Kleinhans Music Hall chairs. The first Eames chair ever designed. 1938

2012-02-19T13:10:00.001-05:00

R.I.P. Neckface Van. My van has finally been towed or stollen from its Gowanas Canal parking spot where I had left it for the last 6 months.

2012-02-17T19:30:00.001-05:00

My hero part two

2012-02-16T18:16:00.001-05:00

My hero part one

2012-02-16T18:13:00.001-05:00

Do you like art? I do.

2012-02-16T18:12:00.001-05:00

2012-02-15T19:47:00.001-05:00

Thanks Sam! I never would have found these Girard LP covers without that tip.

2012-02-14T14:31:00.001-05:00

Per Lutken heart vase from Brooklyn Flea. Happy Valentines Day Mandy!

2012-02-14T13:42:00.001-05:00

A 2004 Masterpiece by Paper Rad. Thats right. I said masterpiece.

2012-02-13T15:26:00.002-05:00

R.I.P Whitney Houston

2012-02-11T21:50:00.002-05:00

Here are 4 pieces of art that were in our basement. Lief Goldberg Andrew Jeffery Wright Phil Frost and Mark Gonzales.

2012-02-11T17:38:00.001-05:00

This 1988 Kippenberger book is pretty rare

2012-02-11T17:32:00.001-05:00

6 vintage Alexander Girard textiles. Part 2

2012-02-11T16:02:00.001-05:00

6 vintage Alexander Girard textiles. Part 1

2012-02-11T15:58:00.001-05:00

An LP making use of Alexander Girards La Fonda Del Sol restaurant.

2012-02-11T15:54:00.001-05:00

Went to see Eddie Martinez today. Got an incredible piece. Thanks Eddie!!

2012-02-10T17:06:00.002-05:00

Really? Come on Christies.

2012-02-09T12:29:00.001-05:00

Just got this. I think the best Saarinen table combination is oval with wood top.

2012-02-08T21:13:00.001-05:00

Mmmmm Romans

2012-02-08T20:39:00.001-05:00

At Christies this morning a "Mid Century Modern" chair ( its Wegner ) estimated at $1000 to $1500 got $65,000 before buyers premium.

2012-02-08T12:42:00.002-05:00

Too sick for work. Not too sick for bloggin

2012-02-06T16:08:00.001-05:00

George Nelson thin edge sofa and ottoman. Herman Miller 1955. RARE

2012-02-06T15:20:00.001-05:00

A pair of Eames stools in Alexander Girard checkers.

2012-02-05T13:22:00.001-05:00

2 by Isamu Noguchi.

2012-02-01T16:57:00.001-05:00

Mies Van Der Rohe. Barcelona Chairs. Knoll 1950.

2012-02-01T16:55:00.001-05:00

R I P. Mike Kelley

2012-02-01T15:27:00.001-05:00

I am extremely stoked and excited to get my new Joe Bradley painting. It smells just like it looks.

2012-01-30T15:59:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite Ben Jones paintings. Sold it years ago and just bought it back.

2012-01-26T13:27:00.001-05:00

Florence Knoll T-Angle Bench. 1950.

2012-01-25T17:32:00.001-05:00

Massive and Awesome 8 Bay George Nelson CSS wall unit ( we were too tired to install the 8th bay)

2012-01-24T18:29:00.001-05:00

A well loved Eames Lounge and Ottoman from 1977. Same age I am ...

2012-01-24T18:16:00.001-05:00

George Nelson 2 Tone Secretary Cabinet. Herman Miller 1948

2012-01-20T13:43:00.001-05:00

Eames DTM table in birch with DKX wire chairs and House of Cards.

2012-01-18T15:05:00.001-05:00

Florence Knoll Wall Mounted Credenza. 1949

2012-01-16T17:00:00.001-05:00

Moonrise Kingdom Haircuts.

2012-01-13T12:56:00.001-05:00

Last year Mandy, Hattie and myself all went up to Newport RI where Mandy was shooting a movie with Wes Anderson called Moonrise Kingdom. Usually Mandy is a "personal" which means she just dose one particular actor's hair and no one else. On Moonrise she did everyone. Including the 100 and something scout troops that all needed haircuts. Above is the trailer, and scouts, and the hair that came off of them.

Amazing Max Lamb Styrofoam Tables, and some ladders by Ben Jones at Johnson Trading Company.

2012-01-12T13:40:00.001-05:00

My friend Paulie Vogel at the Indigo textiles show. Watch for his blankets at BRIGHT LYONS.

2012-01-11T13:26:00.001-05:00

4 Eames Elephant Hide Grey MAX chairs with large shock mounts, X bases and boot glides. Circa 1952

2012-01-09T13:58:00.001-05:00

George Nelson CSS Wall Unit for Herman Miller. 1960.

2012-01-07T12:36:00.001-05:00

Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni. 1960

2012-01-06T09:09:00.001-05:00

If Apples had Teeth. Milton Glaser. 1960

2012-01-06T09:01:00.001-05:00

Some pictures from when Mandy made The Wrestler. Spring 2008

2012-01-04T09:40:00.001-05:00

Mandy Lyons goes to Johny Cash's house and plays his guitar.

2012-01-04T04:10:00.002-05:00

A Richard Schultz Petal Dining Table. Knoll 1960

2012-01-03T16:43:00.001-05:00

Marakesh Morroco

2012-01-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

Raza Jaffery Mandy Lyons Samantha Denny Hodson Paul Vogel & Paul Bright

Extremely rare and awesome 1967 Alexander Girard side table.

2011-12-29T16:06:00.001-05:00

Went to visit our 94 year old Nan today. This is her bedroom wall and yes, that is Barry White.

2011-12-28T06:25:00.001-05:00

Off to London with good old Virgin Atlantic

2011-12-25T20:06:00.001-05:00

My present from Jenny ( booze ) and my present from Nathalie ( book ). Thanks girls!

2011-12-25T13:26:00.001-05:00

Big tupil table is back from visiting Tommy the refinisher

2011-12-25T13:07:00.001-05:00

A pair of Knoll bedside tables.

2011-12-25T13:04:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas from Paul Bright Mandy Lyons & Hattie Bright

2011-12-25T12:53:00.001-05:00

Crazy Harry Bertoia Broach

2011-12-21T17:35:00.001-05:00

Apparently im in the Eames movie.

2011-12-21T13:58:00.003-05:00

Joe Bradley Studio Visit.

2011-12-21T13:58:00.001-05:00

Alexander Girard marble top tables.

2011-12-20T17:26:00.001-05:00

Today at the Strand

2011-12-20T16:46:00.001-05:00

Spectacular Taylor McKimens Christmas Tree

2011-12-20T11:53:00.002-05:00

Eames Cats Cradle

2011-12-19T13:18:00.001-05:00

Egg in hole

2011-12-19T08:12:00.001-05:00

Bright Lyons & Loeffler Randall

2011-12-17T15:36:00.001-05:00

Thanks, Loeffler Randall, for blogging about the store!

Paper Rad Homer & Bart

2011-12-16T18:07:00.001-05:00

George Nelson arm table

2011-12-15T17:29:00.001-05:00

Noguchi Madness!!!

2011-12-15T16:17:00.001-05:00

This week from The Strand

2011-12-12T11:07:00.005-05:00

My weekly visit to The Strand turned up two great books. The first is the 7th installment of the "New Furniture" series. This is probably the best modern design survey ever published. Usually if you can find them they are at least $150. This one was not. The other book has the awesome title "WALLS". Filled with Eames, Bertoia, Paul Evans, and talks about Girard's amazing metal sun from La Fonda Del Sol. $10

Greatest Book Ever Published

2011-12-09T11:18:00.000-05:00

I went to the book launch for Todd and Kiera's Girard book last night and it is the greatest book ever to be published in the history of time. I want to take all 15 pounds of it to bed and just snuggle it.

Big Beautiful Gambone

2011-12-09T10:51:00.000-05:00

Our friend nextdoor, Sorab from City Foundry, sold me this big beautiful Gambone vase the other day. You can just make out the famous Gambone donkey ears poking out from underneath the glaze on the bottom. Normally I shy away from Italian stuff as its a market where I am totally out of my element, but this was too good to pass up.

Only Known Example VS Only Known Example

2011-12-07T11:47:00.000-05:00

Auction catalogs are often filled with many colorful superlatives like " rare" "spectacular" "pre-production" or "prototype" in order to entice bidders to reach deeper in to there pockets to "secure" (another annoying auction term) that prized piece of "property". But to me, no term carries as much weight as "ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLE".

The mystery of the OKE gets me every time. It makes me think of teams of auction house interns pouring over catalogs and reference books, calling up the experts, getting a seal of approval from the museums. I've only had a true OKE once and Ill admit I will brag about it to anyone that wants to listen but recently 2 different friends of mine turned up OKE's at the exact same time and both are going up for auction in the coming weeks.

This is the stuff I literally have dreams about. I will be in the basement of some rural Michigan thrift shop, digging through the crap and then some weird moulded plywood chair will appear, it sort of looks like eames but not a chair that has ever been seen before. I do the mandatory flip over and sure enough written in grease pencil "this is my rarest, coolest, earliest, chair, I made only 1, Charles Eames, 1944". And then I wake up. This type of thing may have happened to Mark McDonald in 1983 but it dose not happen anymore.

Be that as it may, a Noguchi bowl and a Bertoia coffee table are appearing at Wright20 and Sotheby's this month that truly are "ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLES!!!" Both these pieces have now been found pictured within some obscure Knoll reference material and there is a picture of the bowl in one Noguchi book. But this is the first time either one of these designs has seen the light of day ( and by that i mean offered for sale at auction.)

Personally I prefer that table but both pieces would be amazing to own. Who knew Bertoia did a coffee table for Knoll... crazy. The table was found, I think somewhere in Germany and the bowl was found in an ancient Mayan temple where its current owner had to dodge poison arrows, booby trapped rock walls and a giant rolling boulder in order to "secure" it. But thankfully it is now safe on its pedestal at Wright20 awaiting that big day when it will then come home to sit on my new Bertoia coffee table I plan on also buying at Sotheby's. Above are pictures of the objects in question as well a couple other OKEs or almost OKEs

Taylor McKimens Commission 2008 - 2011

2011-12-07T10:13:00.000-05:00

My wife Mandy commissioned this painting from our friend Taylor McKimens back in 2008. We are happy to announce that it was completed last night. These pictures taken over the last 4 years don't give the piece any justice but they give an indication of how much work went in to it. The painting will be exhibited at ROGAN until January 2012. Thanks Taylor, it was worth the wait.

We're 1!

2011-12-04T14:52:00.000-05:00

We opened a year ago yesterday.

"Wow! thats a big Saarinen table."

2011-12-03T15:50:00.001-05:00

Here is the biggest and best of the Saarinen pedestal base tables. 92" with a walnut top. I have only had this table twice in 12 years.

ROGAN vs. BRIGHT LYONS

2011-12-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

We are 90% done the project at Rogan. Hopefully we'll have a little opening next week. Come check it out.

Alexander Girard Pillows

2011-11-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

Now that these pillows have been re-issued by Vitra and Urban Outfitters and god knows who else, it may not be that impressive to see these pillows. But these 4 are the real deal. Half a century old, sold at Girards T&O shop in 1961, essentially pre-dateing pop art.

THINGS I BOUGHT ON CRAIGSLIST

2011-11-29T22:45:00.000-05:00

THINGS I BOUGHT ON EBAY

2011-11-29T22:42:00.000-05:00

John Wesley at the Brooklyn Flea

2011-11-29T22:33:00.000-05:00

This great John Wesley silk screen turned up at the Brooklyn Flea the other day. Its from the 1967 "11 Pop Artists" portfolio and is in an edition of 200. The last one that came up got $3700 at Phillis De Pury. I paid $200. The women that sold it to me had an other one but I encouraged her to keep it.

25 SELECTIONS FROM THE COLLECTION OF BRIGHT LYONS

2011-11-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a sneak peek at a project we just started with our friends at the store Rogan in the city. This will be our first foray into Manhattan. As the little sign posted above says, we are basically installing 25 things ( art, furniture, books, ephemera ) in their store on the corner of Bond and Bowery. More to come on this. We hope to have the whole thing up and running by "Black Friday" .

CSS Install

2011-11-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

I've assembled these things about 30 times and it still doesn't get any easier. Even with the help of Gary Dias ( who once won second place in the annual Lansing Michigan CSS assembly Olympics ) its still a massive pain in the ass.

1 From CL 1 From E Bay

2011-11-16T19:47:00.000-05:00

I just got these 2 chairs. The Girard Eames armshell is from this cool kid that used to work for Mark McDonald and the Steelframe chair is from the same George Nelson house that I bought an amazing Nelson sofa from a few months ago.

Taylor McKimens Studio Visit.

2011-11-16T19:32:00.000-05:00

I went by Taylor McKimens's studio today to drop off a sculpture and check in on a painting that Mandy and I commissioned a while ago. Its the one of the plants in the tub and is about 90% done. Check out the X-Mas tree he is building\painting.

ULTIMATE NACHOS

2011-11-16T13:15:00.000-05:00

If there is one question that Ive been asked numerous times over the years its "Paul, just what is it that makes your Ultimate Nachos, "Ultimate"". I made these nachos for "Ultimate Fight Night" at my place over the weekend and everyone was really impressed. The trick to making your nachos Ultimate is not the number of ingredients you use, its in the layering of the ingredients. You want to lay down the chips, vegies, ground beef, beans, and cheese but then repeat the whole process until the nachos are about 4" deep. Once the first layer is eaten there will be a second layer I like to call the "bedrock" that can be put back in the oven for a second round.

One other important point. On the top of the first layer you must add hot peppers and spices. Otherwise you'll just end up with "Extreme Nachos" and nobody wants that.

34

2011-11-14T17:19:00.000-05:00

2 PIECES FROM GEORGE NELSON'S FIRST COLLECTION FOR HERMAN MILLER 1948

2011-11-14T16:22:00.002-05:00

MATISSE ON FILM

2011-11-14T14:46:00.000-05:00

Saarinen Pedestal Base Dining Set. Knoll 1960

2011-11-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

Our friend "Guitar Frank" the picker who has the whole Hudson Valley locked down, just dropped off this nice old Saarinen set.

Good Art Show

2011-11-10T20:39:00.001-05:00

I just went to see this art show today. This gallery has had some good shows in the past with people like Jason McClean and Joe Grillo. My friend Eric White has a piece in this show so I went to take a look. But there is also a Eddie Martinez painting in the show. I love his work. He is one of the most naturally gifted painters in NYC. But every time I think I will be able to afford a painting the fucking prices go up. This one is $15,000. WTF. Really? I bought about 100 pieces of art from 2001 to 2009 all from NYC artists associated with Dietch and Kathy Grayson and Clementine and ATM and CANADA and that whole crazy group of people and I love everything that I bought. But here are the 3 that I never could get. Eddie Martinez, Tauba Auerbach and Joe Bradley. I know Joe now and think I will end up getting a nice piece by him, Tauba I have given up on, but Eddie Martinez will haunt me for sure.

Rich Jacobs

2011-11-10T20:12:00.000-05:00

I had lunch recently with my old friend Rich Jacobs. In a lot of ways Rich is a perfect human being. Anyone out there that knows him will know what I mean. Gentle and generous yet opinionated and angry at the same time, he has being a great source of inspiration for me over the years. Amongst other things, Rich is a curator and a draftsman. He has been a master of both for as long as I have known him. Over the years I have been involved in a number of projects with him, mainly relating to bringing his art to Canada. I used to have a gallery in Canada and above are pictures of the last project we did together. I think it was called the Minor Threat Billboard or something like that. It is what it is. Its a billboard of a drawing Rich did of the Minor Threat family tree. I can't believe we pulled this one off. I mean come on! Its a fucking full sized billboard of every person or band ever associated with Minor Threat installed on a city street and in the gallery. Thanks Rich!

Erector Set Furniture

2011-11-10T19:19:00.000-05:00

Check out this crazy "Erector Set" furniture that Ivey-Selkirk is going to be auctioning off. The estimate is $1000 to $1500. Im going to bid $1550. Im sure I'll get it.

Dirty Photoshoot

2011-11-10T19:00:00.000-05:00

I got this picture today from Norman Hathaway who is the gentleman designing out Girard catalog. I was skeptical about shooting a lot of the material in my dirty, disgusting, roach infested basement, but it actually ended up looking pretty good. I was literally crawling around on my back on the floor trying to set up this stupid table, which sucked, but old Daisy-face cheered me up.

Best Tulip Table Ever

2011-11-10T18:52:00.000-05:00

This insanely perfect tulip table was on CL yesterday. It had to be picked up, in New Jersey, at 8PM which is a total nightmare when you have a baby that goes to bed at 7pm and no car, but thanks to Mike the mover ( who is probably the best "man with van" in NYC, ) the table is now in the window of the shop. Oh, and it was $400!

KNOLL? DAVIS ALLEN? S.O.M?

2011-11-08T10:57:00.001-05:00

These credenzas have been floating around NYC for decades and its always been a bit of a mystery as to who designed and manufactured them. Often they are sold and attributed to Florence Knoll which is totally understandable as they are virtually identical to her iconic 1960 credenza that I think was first used in Saarinens's CBS building. These credenzas are never signed, the tops are a tiny bit thicker than the Knoll ones and the metal base is constructed differently. Everything else is the same. I've gone through piles of design books from the 60's pertaining to mid century office furniture and here is what have come up with.

These credenzas almost aways have some sort of connection to Skidmore Owings and Merrill buildings. Many of them have Chase tags still in them. The Chase buildings were such massive projects ( the tower downtown was the biggest in the world at the time ) that I think office furniture was custom made for them. The person in charge of interior design for many of these projects was Davis Allen. Allen was one of the main figures within Florence Knoll's Knoll Planning Unit throughout the 1950's. He was surely present and involved in parts of the design process that gave birth to the credenzas that would be a staple within the Knoll catalog for years to come. By the 60's Allen's affiliation had switched from Knoll to SOM as their in house interior designer and the projects for Chase were some of the most ambitious of his career.

It seems odd that Allen and SOM would blatantly copy the work of his old boss at Knoll. It seems more likely that the Chase jobs were so big and required such a large quantity of product, that a custom credenza was created for the job and manufactured separately from the almost identical Knoll pieces. I can't imagine that Florence Knoll was not aware of these pieces and that she did not give Allen and SOM her blessing to manufacture these them.

This of course is all one big educated guess on my part. I could be wrong but until there is information out there stating something else, this is my story and Im sticking to it. Normally I am pretty strict about only have Knoll and Herman Miller stuff in the shop, but Ill make an exception for these. They have enough of a connection to Knoll and Im always interested in anything relating to SOM.

3 from the basement.

2011-11-05T15:54:00.001-05:00

There are piles of books, art and ephemera in our basement that really need to be gone through and organized but I don't want to do it right now. Once and a while we dig out a few weird or interesting things. Here are 3 good ones. The first 2 are just great old European design journals, but the other thing appears to be a 1938 photo album of skiing Nazis. How f'ed up is that? I don't really want it, its creepy. Will someone trade me something for it?