The Mystery of the X202
DoppelHouse Press (Verlag)
9781954600287 (ISBN)
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A rare 1947 catalogue of modern furniture using a revolutionary cast aluminum process reveals the splendid art of James Leonard and a rich, complex story of conflict between design and industry. John Leonard's Project X successfully launched a flood of striking chairs and desks into British and American schools, but his most beautiful design, the X202 "Armchair" remains unknown. By contrast, the paired "Student Chair," the X200, sold over a million copies, the most successful chair in British history. The central mystery of the chairs’ contrasting fates involves his boss's dismissal as 'unfit' at the peak of success, the revolutionary WWII Mosquito fighter/bomber, obsession with a winning racecar, mysterious double lives, a financial scandal, and the eternal battle between art and business. As Wyeth details Leonard's double life and the unprecedented achievement of Project X, he reveals James Leonard to be a singularly talented designer.
A fascinating tale of discovery that will intrigue the everyday reader as much as design historians and specialists.
Peter Wyeth is an award-winning filmmaker in both documentary and fiction and the author of several books. The Lost Architecture of Jean Welz (DoppelHouse 2022) was named a Best Art Book of the Year by Hyperallergic. Peter Wyeth has been making films since the 1970s, including several with the Arts Council of Great Britain, one of which about a modernist block of flats in London, inspired by Hokusai (12 Views of Kensal House) was runner-up for best documentary of the year (Grierson Award). He started a film magazine North by North West, and in 1994 directed The Diary of Arthur Crew Inman, based on the 17-million-word, longest diary in America and named a London Times “Film of the Week.” From 1999–2003, Wyeth was head of the film school at University of the Arts London, where he taught for ten years and set up the student channel Xplore.tv. His short film Pane won a Turner Classic Movies award in 2003. His book The Matter of Vision: Affective Neurobiology and Cinema (Indiana University Press 2015 and John Libbey Media in the UK), and over the past twelve years he has written over 30 articles on architecture and design for The Modernist magazine. He lives between Paris and London.
Foreword and Introduction
Art & Industry
1. The Art: of James Leonard: against all odds
2. The Industry: The factory and James Leonard
3. Johnny Appleton and John Leonard
4. The X202: The best chair in the world?
Battles
5. The politics of design: The Society of Industrial Artists and James Leonard.
6. Fielding’s Folly: The Mosquito and Geoffrey De Havilland
7. Drawing the Dead Horse: Aluminum as a risky choice of material.
8. Project X: Conception and planning
9. Deep Midwinter: 1947
Project X
10. Aluminum Furniture catalogue (1947/8)
11. The X200 chair: Most successful chair in British history
12. The X301 Master’s desk
13. The X103 stacking table
14. X+: The X100 desk and other desks
Design: Britain and the World
15. Pugin to Summers: Leonard and furniture design in Britain 1840-1947
16. Im-Prouve: Leonard and Appleton meet Prouvé, and the X103 copy
17. Aalto: pushing bent plywood to the limits
18. Project X meets the World: Ponti and Domus 1948
Downs & Ups
19. Not-the-X202: The wooden arm battle, the Appleton scandal, and the 1967 Composite PL80 chairs.
20. The Mystery of James Leonard: Two lives
21. Seven mysteries solved.
Addendum
Making a masterpiece: The X202 reborn
Notes
Bibliography
Index
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 8.9.2026 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | bw and color illustrations |
| Verlagsort | Los Angeles |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 228 mm |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte |
| Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Design / Innenarchitektur / Mode | |
| Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Beruf / Finanzen / Recht / Wirtschaft ► Wirtschaft | |
| ISBN-13 | 9781954600287 / 9781954600287 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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