Neal Small Area Lamp (model 1112) 1966–1967

  • Not on view

Dubbed the "Prince of Plastic" by the New York Times, Small led a craze in the late 1960s for sculptural lighting and furniture made from plastic and acrylic. "I like to think of it as all part of the new permissiveness," he commented. "I know that I am being more permissive with myself and the designs I allow myself to makemaking fuller, more sensuous things. People are permitting themselves in every area, whether it's music, with the Beatles and the Stones, architecture or clothes. They are allowing themselves things that please them personally. You don’t have to invest in things forever any more. Lighting is getting to be an art form."

Gallery label from From the Collection: 1960-69, March 26, 2016 - March 12, 2017.
Manufacturer
Neal Small Designs Inc., New York, NY
Medium
Acrylic and chrome-plated metal hardware
Dimensions
16 7/8 x 12 x 12 1/4" (42.8 x 30.5 x 31.1 cm)
Credit
Gift of the designer
Object number
1226.1968
Department
Architecture and Design

Installation views

We have identified these works in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works

In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research/circulating-film.

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].