Emil Milan ('ɛmil Mɪ'lɑːn; May 17, 1922 – April 5, 1985) was an American woodworker known for his carved bowls, birds, and other accessories and art in wood. Trained as a sculptor at the Art Students League of New York, he designed and made wooden ware in the New York City metropolitan area, and later in rural Pennsylvania where he lived alone and used his barn as a workshop. Participating in many woodworking, craft, and design exhibits of his day, his works are in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery, the Yale Art Gallery, the Museum for Art in Wood, the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, the Museum of Art and Design, and many private collections. Once prominent in mid-century modern design, Milan slipped into obscurity after his death.Gordon, B., Sartorius, N., and Jurus, P. (2010). Emil Milan: The (re)-introduction of a seminal American woodworker. Woodwork, Winter 2010, PPP. 64-68. His legacy has been revived by an extensive biographical research project that has led to renewed interest in his life, work, and influence.
Early life and education
Milan was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and graduated from Abraham Clark High School in Roselle in 1940.Sartorius, N., Gordon, B., and Jurus, P. (2011). The Emil Milan Research Project. Chapter on military service. p.1 (separately paginated). Report available from the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design, Asheville, NC. He took up wood carving at an early age and learned shop skills from his father, who was an industrial welder. Attesting to his skill, one of his teachers paid him to carve a small wooden cow for her veterinarian brother.Worthington, K. (1979) Interview with Emil Milan, Sullivan Review, March 29, 1979.
He enlisted in the US Army in 1942, served as a Military Policeman in Europe during WWII, landing on Omaha Beach just after the invasion and advancing across France with the 1st Army. During that time, he continued occasional carving and produced provocative female figures for his fellow soldiers that he called "3D Pinups."Research Project Report, 2011, Chapter on "Military Service" (separately paginated), p.2-4 He was honorably discharged in Monmouth, NJ on November 17, 1945.
Supported by the GI Bill, he studied art and sculpture at the Art Students League of New York starting in 1946, enrolling in classes taught by noted artists Will Barnet, Jose De Creeft, William Zorach, and John Hovannes.Membership record of student Emil Milan, the Art Students League of New York, 215 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 The sculpture courses focused on the tools and techniques of modern sculpture and on the human figure.Research Project Report (2011). Chapter on The influence of the Art Students League of New York. (separately paginated). Both de Creeft and Zorach taught then new methods of direct carving (taille directe) and both produced stylized forms, particularly of women. De Creeft also produced works in wood.Campos, J. (1972) Jose de Creeft. New York: Da Capo Press. Appendix (unpaginated). Figures 229-258.
Early career
After leaving the Art Students League in 1951, Milan continued carving figural works and what he called "functional sculpture" in wood (bowls, trays, spoons, and other accessories) at his parents' home in Roselle. During that time he met Myra and Stan Buchner who were forming a new craft association called New Jersey Designer Craftsmen, and he began selling his works in the group's Christmas shows. The annual Christmas exhibition at the Newark Museum of Art was also a major sales outlet for Milan between 1953 and 1964.Research Project Report (2011). Five page section of the Newark Museum of Art Christmas Shows.
A cutting board with a scoop and a carved bowl made by Milan were selected for the landmark exhibit Designer Craftsmen, USA 1953.Designer Craftsmen USA. Exhibit Guide. (1953). The exhibit toured the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the San Francisco Museum of Art from October, 1953 through August, 1954, then traveled throughout the United States for a year.
In 1953, the Buchners partnered with David Kittredge to form a woodworking business called Buckridge Contemporary Design, located in Orange, NJ. Milan was the designer, set up and ran the shop, and supervised a small group of workers. The shop produced functional wooden tableware and decorative art in wood, notably stylized fish and birds.Buckridge Contemporary Design (video). www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgUQvGh7qAs These works were sold in specialty shops and department stores in the New York City metropolitan area. Hammacher Schlemmer, for example, marketed a Table Talk line of wooden ware crafted by Milan.Hammacher-Schlemmer ad for "Table Talk" woodenware. New Yorker magazine, October 30, 1954 Other retailers included Bonniers, McCutcheons, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Buckridge items were included in the model home displays of House Beautiful magazine that were shown at international exhibitions in 1955–56 in Paris, Milan, Barcelona, and Bari, Italy.House Beautiful (magazine). July 1955 A 1956 article in The New York Times by Home section editor Betty Pepis also featured objects produced at Buckridge.Betty Pepis, "Wood accessories sculpted in new shapes," The New York Times, Home Section, March 17, 1956. The business was disbanded by late 1959.
In 1957, a carved tray and two spoons by Emil Milan appeared in the Design Wood exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Craft (now Museum of Art and Design) in New York City. The three works were purchased by the American Craft Council for the Museum's permanent collection.Museum of Art and Design, permanent collection. See collections.madmusuem.org The May/June 1957 issue of the American Craft Council's magazine Craft Horizons had a feature article on Emil Milan, focusing on his tools and methods of work."Emil Milan," Craft Horizons, June 1957, Vol. XVII, No. 3, pp. 37-39. Also in that issue, Milan's bird shaped hors d'oeuvres server was featured in the Designers Showcase section of the magazine.
The then American Craftsmen's Council launched its traveling exhibit program in 1960 with a "Communication in Craft" exhibit focusing on wood and on fiber arts. Three works by Milan were selected for the "Craftsmanship in Wood" display."Visual Communication," Craft Horizons, 1960 (Jan/Feb Issue) pp. 39, 42-43. The exhibit started at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (NYC), January 8 – February 15, 1960, then travelled to museums, schools, and craft groups across the US. The exhibit included leading woodworkers of the day such as Wharton Esherick, Joyce and Edgar Anderson, Sam Maloof, Bob Stocksdale, and George Nakashima, as well as leading designers such as Charles Eames, James Prestini, and Tapio Wirkkila.Craft Horizons, 1960, pp. 42-43
Move to rural Pennsylvania
In 1961, Milan bought a derelict dairy farm and moved to a rural setting near Thompson, Pennsylvania. He lived and worked there for the rest of his life. During this period he sold his works directly to customers from his workshop and through retail shops . Fifteen of his pieces were included in the exhibit entitled Craftsmanship Defined held at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, March 13 – April 18, 1964.Craftsmanship Defined: An Exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, March 13 – April 18, 1964. See collections.library.uarts.edu/cdm/ref/collection/pubsarchive/id/37398 A picture of Milan holding a large bowl he carved from African mahogany was on the cover of the Newark News Sunday Magazine, January 9, 1966. In October 1969, he participated in the Smithsonian Institution's Cooperative Craft Exhibit in Washington, DC. In July 1969, he was an invited exhibitor at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College, PA.Daily Collegian, (Penn State University student newspaper), July 10, 1969 Also in 1969, he was commissioned to make the gavel and strikeplate for the President of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.Gavel and strikeplate of the NEAFCS President (Picture with explanatory caption). www.neafcs.org/assets/documents/history/1969.pdf Starting in October 1969, a 30-minute color documentary entitled Emil Milan: Craftsman aired for about six months on Educational TV channels in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Pasadena, CA. A copy of the tape has not yet been found.Research Project Report, 2011, TV listings for the 30-minute color documentary on Emil Milan:
Teaching
After moving to Pennsylvania, Milan increased his teaching of woodworking, both at his barn studio and regionally. He taught at Peter's Valley Craft Center (now Peters Valley School of Craft near Layton, New Jersey) from the Center's inaugural year, 1971, through 1984. He was an Associate Instructor in 1971–72 and a Resident Instructor in 1973.Perry, Kevin, C. Peter's Valley or Bevens, NJ: Work In Progress. Unpublished history of Peter's Valley Craft Center. He taught methods he used carving sculptural forms and functional objects and about varieties of wood species, wood structure, and tool use and care.Mimeographed handout for Emil Milan's workshop at Peter's Valley Craft Center (undated, unpaginated. (1970s) His students varied widely in experience and skill, from newcomers to emerging professional woodworkers. He taught by demonstration, encouraging individual creative expression and innovation in using both hand tools and power tools.
In the late 1960s the Penn State Agricultural Extension Service hired Milan as an instructor.Science for the farmer.(1967). Periodical publication of the College of Agriculture, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. Picture of Emil Milan on the cover and a two-page article (unpaginated). The Extension Service, funded by the federal Manpower Development and Training Act, employed him to teach woodworking skills in rural areas to rekindle the craft industry in Pennsylvania.Research Project Report, 2011, chapter on teaching An article in Science for the farmer, featuring Milan on the cover, described the unusual program.
For several years in the 1970s, Milan did woodworking demonstrations at the Harford Fair (PA). He did demonstrations and workshops at high schools in Pennsylvania including Sullivan County High School (1970–1979), Carbon County Technical School (1970), Montrose High School (1979).
Honduras 1964–65
In fall 1964, Milan joined noted furniture makers Joyce and Edgar Anderson, ceramicist William Wyman, and designer Gere Kavanaugh for several months in Honduras in a USAID program. The goal was to train local people to make products from indigenous woods for sale in the US market. He designed prototypes of functional and art objects as teaching aids and taught woodworking in Tegucigalpa.Oral history interview with Joyce and Edgar Anderson, September 17–19, 2002. Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art. www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-edgar-and-joyce-anderson-13240 Accessed March 20, 2015.
Later career
A cutting board and scoop of Milan's was selected for the Smithsonian Institution's landmark Craft Multiples exhibit at the Renwick Gallery July 4, 1975 to February 16, 1976.Cutting Board and Scoop by Emil Milan, American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=17405 The exhibit then traveled the United States for three years. These works are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery.Exhibit Guide for Craft Multiples, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975.