BY PAUL EVANS, 1970

Paul Evans (1931-1987) was an American born furniture designer, sculptor and artist. Evans studied sculpture, metalwork and jewellery at several institutions including the Philadelphia Textile Institute, The School for American Craftsmen at the Rochester Institute of Technology and The Cranbrook Academy of Art. Evans took his inspiration for furniture making from a visit to the renowned furniture designer Phillip Lloyd Powell’s shop in Pennsylvania, and began his career by collaborating with Lloyd Powell making chests and sculpted steel-front cabinets. In 1964 Evans became the chief designer for the furniture manufacturer, Directional Furniture. It was at this time he introduced several new ranges of furniture including the Argente series of one off studio pieces, the sculpted bronze series and his renowned Cityscape series (see lots (51, 60, 126 and 150). A unique quality that can be seen in Evans’s distinctive pieces is the juxtaposition of traditional craftsmanship with technological innovation and the application of sculptural elements as well as metalwork and jewellery design creating a fusion of furniture and art. Most recently a documentary was produced which charted Evans’s career and was played alongside the first major retrospective of his work at the Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.