Michael Lax

Michael Lax was a native New Yorker who graduated from Alfred University in 1951. The artist traveled to Europe on a Fulbright Scholarship in the early 1950s, where he discovered the pared-down, organic design that would come to be known as “Danish modern.” He worked with notable American designer Russel Wright before establishing his own career as a designer of china, glassware, lighting, and metalware. By the 1960s, Lax had branched out to design nightclubs, expensive tree houses for adults, and pop art Christmas trees. Turning to sculpture in the late 1970s, Lax was awarded a Rome Prize to study at the American Academy and opened a studio in Tuscany in 1984.