Banking on beauty : Millard Sheets and midcentury commercial architecture in California / Adam Arenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arenson, Adam, 1978- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sheets, Millard, 1907-1989.

Sheets, Millard.

Ahmanson, Howard F.

Artists--California.

Artists.

Mural painting and decoration--California.

Mural painting and decoration.

Bank buildings--California.

Bank buildings.

Art and architecture.

Art and society.

California.

Physical Description:

359 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 26 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2018.

Summary:

I want buildings that will be exciting seventy-five years from now," financier Howard Ahmanson told visual artist Millard Sheets, offering him complete control of design, subject, decoration, and budget for his Home Savings and Loan branch offices. The partnership between Home Savings-for decades, the nation's largest savings and loan-and the Millard Sheets Studio produced more than 160 buildings in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri over the course of a quarter century. Adorned with murals, mosaics, stained glass, and sculptures, the Home Savings (and Savings of America) branches displayed a celebratory vision of community history and community values that garnered widespread acclaim. 'Banking on Beauty' presents the first history of this remarkable building program. Drawing extensively on archival materials, site visits, and oral history interviews, Adam Arenson tells a fascinating story of how the architecture and art were created, the politics of where the branches were built, and why the Sheets Studio switched from portraying universal family scenes to celebrating local history amid the dramatic cultural and political changes of the 1960s. Combining urban history, business history, and art and architectural history, Banking on Beauty reveals how these institutions shaped the corporate and cultural landscapes of Southern California, where many of the branches were located.

Contents:

Introduction : the story, the letter, the building

Origins : Millard Sheets, Howard Ahmanson, and architecture before the letter

Creating the Millard Sheets studio, creating the Home Savings style

Home Savings and the Millard Sheets Studio build new places

Home Savings in your community amid changing circumstances

Expansion and change after Howard Ahmanson

Beyond Millard Sheets, beyond California

Preservation after Home Savings

Appendix A : list of Sheets Studio artists and contractors and home savings artists

Appendix B : how the Sheets Studio mosaics were made, by Brian Worley, Sheets Studio artist.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781477315293

1477315292

OCLC:

986993216