Florsheim / Goldberg
An Extended Conversation

The symbiosis of their relationship was apparent early on but it extended beyond mutual respect, appreciation and support into more formal artistic concerns. From exploration into materials and form, both the architecture of Bertrand Goldberg and the art of Lillian Florsheim share significant overlaps. The timeline and connections are not necessarily linear or direct, but it is evident in a vibrant dialogue between their works and the art with which they surrounded themselves. Both had early interest in curved, three-dimensional form. Lillian began her work in the 1940s with figural sculptures, which evolved into more abstract works and string models. Bertrand’s interest in curvature started with two-dimensional curves in his furniture design of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and by the end of the decade and into the early 1960s, his control and understanding of curves was much more sophisticated as revealed in the three-dimensional volumes of Marina City and the Brenneman School with its hyperbolic concrete shells sheltering individual classrooms. 

Quatrefoil, a cast plaster work by Lillian from 1963-64 presages the quatrefoil plans of Bertrand’s hospitals of a few years later and illustrates their shared interest in volumetric expression. At times, the dialog in their production is obvious but it is rarely simple. Rather, it is an extended conversation between two thinking individuals, each working in their own medium. In the end, Bertrand remained focused on structural form while Lillian was more interested in conceptual issues and they each remained true to their individual training and to their teachers’ philosophies (Lillian to Laszlo Moholy-Nagy via her studies at the Institute of Design, and her exchanges with the artists Georges Vantongerloo and Max Bill; Bertrand to Josef Albers and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe).

In addition to the dialog between Lillian’s art and Bertrand’s architecture, other aspects of their daily lives were intertwined not only with family ties but by their proximity to each other; Bertrand and Nancy lived just a few blocks away from Lillian’s home and studio in the Gold Coast of Chicago. Furthermore, all were near Bertrand’s Astor Tower, home to Maxim’s de Paris, the esteemed French restaurant based on the legendary Parisian establishment that was owned and run by Nancy Goldberg for two decades and enjoyed frequently by all three.

The family was close knit and even their travels were at times shared. In 1956 Lillian, Nancy and Bertrand attended the Venice Biennale and afterwards all three visited the artist, Pietro Consagra in Rome. Both Lillian and Bertrand acquired works from Consagra further illustrating just how often their interests and appreciations aligned. They often collected works by the same artists, and also ancient artifacts and antiques. Yet, throughout, each maintained their own singular vision that was both informed and inspired by the other.

With nearly 200 lots, this unique offering explores the complex and multi-faceted relationship of the artist, Lillian Florsheim and architect, Bertrand Goldberg. 

Goldberg’s large and most iconic project was Marina City in Chicago completed in the 1960s. This multi-building complex featured two round sixty story towers, with 900 apartments, a theater, office and commercial spaces, a marina, and many kinds of recreation. The towers have long been iconic structures in Chicago’s skyline and are still a part of Chicago imagery. At Marina City, Bertrand Goldberg used the creation of a “city within a city” to combine living, recreation, entertainment and commercial space into a single complex, a recurring concept throughout his career. The project featured numerous design and construction innovations; at the time of completion the Marina City towers were the tallest apartment buildings and concrete structures in the world.

Bertrand’s designs were always unique and forward thinking, starting from residential commissions in the 1930s through the 1950s, and extended into major commissions following Marina City. From 1965-1996 Bertrand Goldberg designed nine major hospitals and two large educational campuses, including the Health Sciences Center in Stony Brook, New York, a mega-complex of three large buildings connected through multi-acre base structure. He had a particular interest in the dynamic of the individual and their use of the space around them, an idea that extended to his hospital designs. These all featured a particular approach, with beds clustered around care centers, giving his buildings unique form.

His particular combination of Bauhaus ideas coupled with his American pragmatism is evident throughout his career. Its roots are visible in his early single-family residences and furniture, where every detail was considered, with custom furniture and fixtures common to all buildings. Two projects from the 1950s stand out, one a home out of large prefabricated building shells, from boxcars he was manufacturing in plywood, which were then cantilevered out over Long Island Sound. At the same time, he designed for his mother-in-law Lillian, a unique kitchen-as-bridge, spanning from her small house to her studio. Clad in fiberglass, its elegant interior was in stainless or gloss black, and featured all custom fittings, in perforated metal and machine-parts.

While Bertrand completed many single-family and multi-family residential projects and numerous institutional and commercial projects, the special objects and fittings he designed are rarely seen. With a personal design sensibility rooted in material and technological innovations, Bertrand’s furniture is not only rare, but also exceptional for its uniqueness. The works offered here are exemplary and represent a part of this significant individual’s contribution to modernism. 

Through the 1950s Lillian worked unaccompanied at home in her studio making abstracted figures, string study models, and a variety of utilitarian objects in Plexiglas. In the early 1960s, her sculptures became more abstract, complex studies of pure form. She began to layer Plexiglas, and then moved into strong geometric constructions of rods and planes. By the end of the decade, her works became much larger, first with tall columns and plinths and later with assemblies of tubes and portals. By the end of the 1970s, she returned to making smaller more intimately scaled works.

Over these three decades, she created an impressive body of work with more than 200 sculptures. She explored a variety of techniques, approaches, materials and methods throughout her career, probing the material and conceptual boundaries of her creations. Lillian’s sculptural work was widely exhibited from the mid-1960s through the 1980s; she had at least sixteen solo shows, and participated in twelve group shows in seven countries. She was a close friend of the highly-regarded Parisian gallerist Denise René, who showed Lillian’s work in 1968 and 1969. In 1970, Lillian was one of three artists in a major exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. She was represented by the notable Fairweather Hardin Gallery in Chicago, who hosted two solo shows of Lillian’s work in 1980 and 1983.

Within a few months, Nancy Goldberg stepped in to run the operations, making Maxim’s de Paris in Chicago an award winning restaurant for two decades. She supervised all aspects, going personally to Paris to recruit chefs and staff. Exotic foods were flown in from Europe, or specially cultivated in the United States. Bertrand culled the markets of Paris for suitable artwork, and together they took care with every detail. Designed entirely by Bertrand, Maxim’s in Chicago was modeled on the interiors of the legendary Parisian restaurant. From the jewel box entrance of Astor Tower, guests descended a winding dramatic staircase into a lobby decorated with vintage Parisian art before entering the softly lit, romantic Art Nouveau interior with red velvet clad walls, gilt brass vines and ornate mirrors. The tables were set with unique flatware made by Christofle in silver and gold, plates designed by Bertrand made in Limoges. Even the staff wore specially designed attire. Every detail was considered, intentional and of the highest quality.

Maxim’s de Paris in Chicago became a fixture for world class haute-cuisine and French culture. It was one of the most elegant restaurants and nightspots in the city and it became the center for high society who danced into the early hours of the morning in the restaurant’s discotheque, the city’s first. The sophisticated and the renowned dined on the gourmet fare, a precursor to the city’s burgeoning culinary scene, and the establishment set the trend for Maxim’s de Paris to become an international brand now found widely throughout the world.