Customer Reviews

500 Chairs: Celebrating Traditional & Innovative Designs (500 Series)

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Lark Books' "500 Chairs: Celebrating Traditional & Innovative Designs" is typical of the increasng catalog of "500" books ("500 Earrings", "500 Necklaces", "500 Vessels", etc.). Each of these books is basically a compendium of color photos and a little information about the works of many contemporary artists. The way it works with all these books is, the Lark editors invite artists from everywhere to offer, royalty-free, photos of their works in return for possible inclusion in the work at hand. Then the editors pick the 500 works that they like the best and put them in the book. This formula means that costs needed to assemble the content of the books is minimal, and significant effort and resources can then be put into the production values of the books, while keeping the selling prices reasonable. It's generally a winning formula. Although all the books in the "500" series are paperback, the quality of the paper stock is outstanding and the quality of the hundreds of color photographic reproductions is also excellent. The size of the photographs is such that only one or two are placed on a page, with the result that the reader can get a very good look at the work, sometimes from multiple views. Next to each photograph is a caption that lists the artist's name, the title of the work, the materials used in the fabrication, the year in which it was produced,and a photo credit. Occasionally a short quote from an artist is also included. The only other text is a short one or two page introduction to the collection by a distinguished artist or collector or archivist. All the Lark "500" books follow this formula.

"500 Chairs", like most of the other "500 Series" books,while delightful, is not perfect. For example, there ARE discernable differences in the quality of the original photos. The photos are not done by Lark, but by the artists themselve, or by professional photographers contracted by the artists, and then submitted to Lark. So, backgrounds, lighting, composition, and, frankly, quality vary from photograph to photograph. Don't get me wrong, the editors of the book didn't let any dogs into the book. But there are differences, and not all the works have been shot to display the work optimally.

Another quibble I have is with the paucity of information about the artists and the works. Often I want to know more about the artist or the piece, or something about fabrication technique that was used ("Man, how the heck did she do THAT?"). Obviously, with 500 works in the collection it is necessary to limit the amount of text information so as to maximize the size and number of photographs, and quite rightly so. But, if you want more information you'll have to get on the internet and do some research, as the table of artists in the back of the book only lists the name and city and country where each lives.

The works included in the book are all by contemporaty artists. So, you will not find classic works by classic artists over time. And while the subtitle of the book speaks to "traditional and innovative designs", the actual emphasis is more on innovation and less on tradition in my opinion. Many of the pieces (too many in my opinion) are of "art" pieces that are totally unfunctional and could never be utilized as real furniture, even for special occasions. As with many contemporary artists in many fields the emphasis seems to be "look at how wacky and weird I can be" in an attempt just to be different and stand out. This is "innovation". You may love such "art furniture", but, while I find many of the pieces interesting, whimsical, or just curious, many leave me rather cold. But that's contemporary art and that's just me. Overall, the content of the book presents a terrific visual essay on the state of the best of the "best and upcoming" in contemporary chair design. As an introductory scan of what's being done on the scene today this book is hard to beat.

Tables are my driving force at this time, but, after seeing 500 Tables, I ordered 500 Chairs and I may just have to throw my hat into the ring, as some of the chairs represented are singularly impressive and inspirational.

500 Chairs is remarkable: a beautifully made photographic account of sterling furniture design by leading makers as well as brilliant newcomers. Lark's 500 series consistently outshines all competitors, and this book is no exception: It's superior in range and inspiration to other collections out there. The book was juried by Craig Nutt, and includes pieces by nearly 300 different designers. Just some of the leading ones include John Grew Sheridan, Garry Knox Bennett, Gord Peteran, Curtis Buchanan, Judy Kensley McKie, Paul Freundt, Wendy Maruyama, and Sam Maloof. I'm very pleased to have this book on my shelves, and I strongly recommend also taking a look at 500 Tables: Inspiring Interpretations of Function and Style (500 Series), which is also from Lark Books. After all, chairs and tables go together very nicely!

Simply excellent. Beautifully photographed and laid out, the work in this book is broad ranging, open minded and each one a sincere and intelligent design direction. Powerfully inspirational and helpful if you're needing a nudge to get out of the box with a design!

I bought it for my husband (woodworker). We are both artists and we LOVE it. Some very interesting and creative pieces are featured in the book.

Each page contains a beautiful picture of a modern chair made by artists who take pride in creating usable furniture that adds beauty to any home. A fabulous study if you like modern furniture.

The person I gave this book to loves it and seems to be constantly looking through its pages.

Excellent photograghaphy. Excellent selection of chairs being showcased. If you enjoy furniture as art you will certainly enjoy this book. My personal interest is comfortable chairs with an artistic twist. I'll probably use this book as a jumping off point for chair designs I'll build for different needs. A truly great chair can be a great plane to land. Enjoy.

This is a nice book but note that, like the "500 Tables" volume, the chairs presented are almost all by contemporary builders; there are hardly any older, classic designs. The other thing to be aware of is the large number of "chairs" that one cannot sit on: they are somewhat chair shaped, but not at all useful. There is nothing wrong with that and they can be fun to look at, but they are often more "art" and less practical, so if you are looking for inspiration for a design for your own dining room this book is probably not it.

After just painfully completing eight dining chairs, I told my wife that I will never build another piece of traditional furniture. Paging through this book only confirmed that statement, many of the chairs are actually sculptural fine art. Most of the chairs are constructed from wood but the materials used range from ceramics to steel. There are several traditional works but most are very inventive and are sure to inspire anyone wishing to design their own furniture.