George Nakashima

Commissioned directly from the artist by Irene and Barry Bloom, 1979

George Nakashima, The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworkers’ Reflections, New York, 1988, pp. 150 (for a related drawing) and 167

George Nakashima, exh. cat., Kukje Gallery, Seoul, 2006, pp. 8 and 32

This lot is offered together with a copy of the original order card.

The following works present the collection of Irene and Dr. Barry Bloom, thoughtfully assembled over decades, and representing a remarkable testament to the sculptural beauty, masterful craftsmanship, and enduring design philosophy of George and Mira Nakashima. The collection reflects a profound appreciation for material integrity and the timeless principles that define the Nakashima tradition — and, as described below, was shaped in part by an extraordinary personal bond between Irene and Barry Bloom and George and Mira Nakashima.

The Bloom Collection is distinguished not only by the quality of its individual works, but by the cohesion and sensitivity with which it was assembled — and by the remarkable personal history that underpins it. Of particular note is the close bond between George Nakashima and Barry Bloom, a relationship rooted in both shared values and personal trust. After placing their first order for furniture with George Nakashima in 1976, the Blooms visited the studio frequently. Upon learning that Barry was a Harvard immunologist, George introduced him to the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, established by President Truman. Their collaboration with the Commission deepened over the years, forging a personal connection that lent the collection a meaning beyond the merely aesthetic.

The pieces offered here exemplify the masterful craftsmanship and quiet spiritual sensibility that have made Nakashima’s work internationally revered. From richly figured walnut slabs to elegantly resolved joinery, each object demonstrates an uncompromising dedication to material and process, transcending furniture, and standing equally as expressions of art, philosophy, and design history.

Following George Nakashima’s death in 1990, Mira Nakashima continued the legacy of the family workshop in New Hope, Pennsylvania, preserving its exacting standards while contributing her own refined vision. Her stewardship has ensured the continuity of the Nakashima ethos: a reverence for nature, the handmade object, and the timeless dialogue between utility and beauty.

The Bloom Collection represents not only quintessential works by George and Mira Nakashima, but the enduring bonds between artist and patron that give these exceptional works their lasting significance.