The Art, Craft, and Design Community of the Postwar Pomona Valley
Although he built his home in Alta Loma, a more rural and affordable community east of Claremont, Maloof was a central part of the lively Pomona Valley art community. In the years immediately following World War II, Claremont emerged as an influential center of artistic and cultural activity. This charming college town was home to a large community of artists, designers, and craftspeople working in a wide variety of media and styles. Among them were the painter, designer, and muralist Millard Sheets; the British-born sculptor Albert Stewart; ceramists William Manker, Harrison McIntosh, and Richard “Rick” Petterson; enamelists Arthur and Jean Ames; and the weaver Marion “Hoppy” Stewart. Solidly grounded in the traditions of their respective disciplines, these artists, many of whom were also influential educators, played an important role in advancing art and craft in California in the postwar period.
The presence in Claremont of several nationally prominent educational institutions— in particular Pomona College, Scripps College, and Claremont Graduate School (now known as the Claremont Graduate University) — furnished a rich intellectual context for this community. More practically, the Claremont colleges also provided employment for these artists. The faculty of these institutions, along with their students, many of whom stayed in the Claremont area after graduation to pursue careers in the arts, formed the foundation of a multifaceted artistic community in the Pomona Valley, one that continues to flourish today.
About Sam Maloof
Born in Chino, Calif., in 1916 to parents who had emigrated from Lebanon, Sam Maloof was self taught as a woodworker. After serving in the Army during World War II, he worked from 1946 to 1949 as a studio assistant to Millard Sheets, an iconic California scene painter and leader of the Claremont art community. Shortly after his marriage to Alfreda Ward in 1948 — and after building a set of plywood furniture for his family’s own use — Maloof decided to embark on a career as a woodworker and furniture maker. He received early encouragement from some of the leading figures in contemporary design, including the New York- and Pasadena-based industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss.
In 1952, having left Sheets’ workshop, and with several important commissions under his belt, Maloof began to yearn for a larger home and workspace in a more rural setting. With Alfreda’s encouragement, he set out to find a suitable location and in 1953 purchased a piece of property in rural Alta Loma with a venerable avocado tree, a small one-bedroom cottage-type structure, and a dilapidated chicken coop. In spite of the property’s ramshackle state, the Maloofs found its serenity appealing. For the next several decades they made this parcel of land their home, raising their two children, advancing a career, assembling a collection, and finding constant inspiration and solace in the beauty of their surroundings.
In 1994, after years of battling the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) over the planned extension of the Foothill (210) Freeway and the impending threat to his home and property, Maloof negotiated a settlement under which Caltrans agreed to relocate his home and compound to another site. The original Maloof house now sits on a nearby property that includes gardens and a functioning workshop and is maintained by the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.
After Alfreda’s death in 1998, Maloof married Beverly Wingate, a longtime admirer of his work. Maloof died in 2009, having become a nationally recognized leader of the American studio furniture movement, which favored the aesthetics of the handmade over mass-production.
Photographs:
1. Music Stand and Chair, Sam Maloof (1916 – 2009); Double Music Stand (1969) and Chair (1972), Brazilian Rosewood. Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts. Credit: John Sullivan, The Huntington Library
2. Rocking Chair for Alfreda, 1982, Walnut with inlay. Collection of Slimen Maloof, Mentone, Calif. Credit: John Sullivan, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
3. Free-standing Cradle, 1992 (form introduced in 1975), Walnut. Collection of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts. Credit: John Sullivan, The Huntington Library
4. Star Angel, 1950-51 by Jean Ames (1903 – 1986); Enamel on copper. Collection of Scripps College, Claremont, Calif. Gift of Jean Goodwin Ames. Credit: John Sullivan, The Huntington Library
5. Alfreda Maloof in dining room of the Maloof home, about 1964. Photo: Sam Maloof, courtesy of the Maloof Foundation
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