Exhibit Pays Homage to the Designs, Vision of the Late Paul Laszlo

The elegant furniture of German-born architect and interior designer Paul Laszlo, whose career was based primarily in Southern California, is getting a new boost.

Laszlo’s work has been exhibited for the last two months at the Manhattan furniture gallery Donzella. Owner Paul Donzella thinks it may be the first-ever Laszlo exhibition.

“I have about 35 pieces on the floor,” Donzella said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to come and get a good taste of what Laszlo is about.”

He’s also promoting Laszlo on his Web site, https://www.donzella.com.

“We’ve had inquiries about his pieces from as far away as Hong Kong,” Donzella said.

Laszlo, who died in 1993, came to Southern California in the 1930s and produced a significant amount of work during the next four decades.

“He brought an Eastern European style with him but melded the Old World with the New,” Donzella said. “He liked glass walls and space and used such materials as beads, reverse painted glass tiles and quilted upholstery to transform furniture to sculptural artistry.”

Donzella likes the pared-down furniture of the ‘40s and ‘50s.

“After years of filling their houses with European stuff like Queen Anne design, people were letting go of tradition,” he said. “I love what the modernists had to say.”

Southern California was leading the way.

“I’ve discovered quite a few really talented people who worked in Southern California during the mid-century,” he said. “A few modernists are well-known, like Schindler and Neutra, but there were a lot more. Laszlo’s contribution to the world of design was significant, but it’s virtually unknown but for a handful of collectors. “

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Karen Erickson, who describes herself as a “slipcover artist,” will teach a workshop Jan. 22 and 23 in Westlake Village.

“I do these workshops all over the country and get a huge response,” said Erickson, who lives in St. Louis. “In the last couple of years, slipcovers have really caught on.”

She is not talking about “shabby chic,” which looks as if it was thrown together, but about a custom slipcover that fits as snugly as upholstery and can give an old chair a total face lift.

Though slipcovering goes back to the Middle Ages, it’s almost a lost art, Erickson said.

On the first workshop day, Erickson will cover such basics as fabric types, embellishments such as buttons and bias cording, measuring and cutting. On the second day, students will slip-cover a piece of furniture they have brought along.

Erickson, who says that any experienced sewer can learn her techniques, has also co-founded the Slipcover Network, which offers a wealth of information on its Web site: https://www.slipcovers.org.

The workshop, $89 for one day, $175 for two, will be held at R.C. Custom Drapery Service, 31143 La Colinas, Westlake Village. Information: (800) 267-4958.