Paul R. Evans

Paul R. Evans II (20 May 1931 – 7 March 1987) was an American born residential furniture designer, sculptor, and artist, who is famous for his contributions to American furniture design and the American craft Movement of the 1970s, and with his work with the influential American manufacturer Directional Furniture. His creation of metal sculpted furniture set him apart. He studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and later settled in New Hope, Pennsylvania, working with mentor Phillip Lloyd Powell, who studied under George Nakashima.

Biography

Paul Evans was born Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He studied at several institutions including the Philadelphia Textile Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1950), Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Craftsmen, Rochester, New York (1950), and Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (1952).

Evans began, in the 1950s making copper chests and followed with sculpted steel-front cabinets. Evans had a two-man show in 1961 at America House, an exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York (now named the Museum of Arts & Design). In 1964, Evans became the designer for furniture manufacturer Directional Furniture. With Directional Furniture, Paul Evans introduced several series of furniture lines; such as Argente series, Sculpted Bronze series, and the popular Cityscape series.

Evans pieces were almost always signed, and all of the custom items have a signature and a date. Paul Evans' combination of handcraft and technology anticipated the limited edition art furniture of today. The artist's relationship with Directional Furniture set a unique standard for creative manufacture by insisting every piece is made by hand, finished by hand, supervised by the artist at each step of production, one piece at a time.