Mel Lindquist

Mel Lindquist (born Melvin Benjamin Lindquist, July 5, 1911 – November 24, 2000) was an American engineer and renowned pioneer of the American Studio Wood Turning movement.[1][2][3][4][5]

Mel Lindquist
BornJuly 5, 1911
Kingsburg, California
DiedNovember 24, 2000
Quincy, Florida
NationalityAmerican
EducationOakland Polytechnic College of Engineering
Known forWood Turning, Engineering
MovementAmerican Studio Wood Turning
AwardsFellow American Society of Quality Control
New England Living Art Treasure, University of Massachusetts Amherst,1983
The First "National Woodturning Conference Award" for outstanding achievements in Studio Woodturning, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 1985
Lifetime Member
American Association of Woodturners, 1993

Career

Foundational to the studio woodturning movement, Mel Lindquist applied his master machinist techniques and background in engineering, pioneering hollowing techniques called "blind boring", or "blind turning", widely used today.[5][6][7][8][9]

In addition to his numerous technical innovations, Mel Lindquist is also widely credited for developing an aesthetic foundation for the studio woodturning movement based on translating ancient ceramic ideals into the medium of wood, incorporating bark inclusions and imperfections as decorative elements within the turning integral to design.[8][9][10][11] Mel Lindquist discovered spalted wood on his land in the upstate New York Adirondacks in the 1950s[5][12] and together with his son Mark Lindquist, popularized its use as a material for woodturning and woodworking. Mel Lindquist is widely credited as being the first to seriously explore the use of spalted wood for wood turning,[5][8][10][13][14] and his son Mark wrote groundbreaking essays in journals of the 1970s.[15][16] The effect was widespread according to Fine Woodworking: "...Melvin and Mark Lindquist unleashed spalted wood upon the world...."[14][17][18]

In 1981, Mel and his son Mark initiated the wood turning program at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, TN, and in October 1985, Mel won the first award honoring the pillars of the studio woodturning movement at the national conference: Woodturning: Vision and Concept at Arrowmont School, TN.[10]

Lindquist signed his work with a simple script "L" including the date and type of wood from the early 1950s until 1980. After 1980 he signed his work with an incised script signature "Mel Lindquist" on the bottoms of his pieces.

Mel Lindquist's work can be found in numerous public and private collections in the US and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, TX, and the White House Collection of American Crafts.

References
  1. "Melvin Lindquist: Biography". Smithsonian American Art Museum. 1995. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  2. Duncan-Aimone, Katherine; Wallace, Kevin; Leier, Ray; Peters, Jan (September 1, 2004). 500 Wood Bowls. US: Lark Books. pp. 7–9. ISBN 978-1-57990-483-8.
  3. Wallace, Kevin; Vessery, Jacques (September 2007). "An Evolutionary View of Contemporary Woodturning". Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  4. Bartolucci, Marisa (1 September 2005). "Passion Investments". Worth Magazine. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  5. Leier, Ray; Jan, Peters; Wallace, Kevin (2000). Contemporary turned wood: new perspectives in a rich tradition. Lewes: Guild of Master Craftsman Publications. pp. 8, 10, 29, 80, 126. ISBN 978-1-86108-186-5.
  6. Monroe, Michael; Diamonstein, Barbaralee; Broun, Elizabeth (1995). The White House Collection of American Crafts. US: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York. pp. 19, 97, 98, 120. ISBN 978-0-8109-4035-2.
  7. Fike, Bonita; Mendelson, Mike (2000). The Fine Art of Wood. US: Abbeville Press, NY, London, Paris. pp. 13, 14. ISBN 0-7892-0680-3.
  8. Nish, Dale (1985). Master Woodturners. US: Artisan Press. pp. 63–77. ISBN 978-0-934327-00-8.
  9. Martin, Terry (October 2008). Icons: A Tribute to Mel Lindquist. Hong Kong: Shore Design / Rakova Brecker Gallery. pp. 8–12, 25–28.
  10. Adamson, Glen; Cooke, Edward S. Jr (July 1, 2003). Wood Turning in America Since 1930. Milan, Italy: Wood Turning Center and Yale University Art Gallery. ISBN 978-0-89467-094-7.
  11. Leach, Mark Richard; Monroe, Michael W.; Ramljak, Suzanne (2000). A Passion for Wood (Monroe essay) Turning Wood into Art: The Jane and Arthur Mason Collection. US / Japan: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-8109-4483-1.
  12. Hammel, Lisa (November 19, 1975). "Wood Sculptors Mel and Mark Lindquist". The New York Times.
  13. Roberta, Smith (September 1, 1989). "NY Times Review: Art; The Many ways of Turning Wood". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  14. Jacobson, Edward; Herman, Lloyd E.; Nish, Dale L.; Turk, Rudy H. (1985). The Art of Turned-Wood Bowls. US: E.P. Dutton Inc., New York. pp. 12, 63–77. ISBN 0-525-24328-3.
  15. Lindquist, Mark (1977). "Turning Spalted Wood". Fine Woodworking. 2 (1).
  16. Lindquist, Mark (1978). "Turning Spalted Wood". Fine Woodworking. Summer, 1978.
  17. Kelsey, John (January–February 1982). "The Turned Bowl". Fine Woodworking. 1982 (32): 54.
  18. Tradition/Innovation.org (2008). "Lindquist on Trees - Choice of Wood". Southern Arts Federation. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
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