Over the course of a career spent largely in Los Angeles, John Lautner (1911–1994) captured the essence of Southern California in more than 150 distinctive structures. Trained by Frank Lloyd Wright, Lautner is best known for such private homes as the Elrod Residence in Palm Springs, featured in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever, and Los Angeles's iconic "Chemosphere."

Organized by the Hammer Museum, Between Earth and Heaven is curated jointly by Nicholas Olsberg, a cultural historian and expert on modern American architecture, and Frank Escher, an award-winning architect who helped establish the John Lautner Foundation. A three-venue international tour is planned. The 234-page Rizzoli exhibition catalogue will be the first comprehensive study of Lautner and his work and will include many previously unpublished photographs and drawings.

This exhibition is made possible through a major gift from the Dunard Fund USA. Generous support has also been provided by the Lloyd E. Rigler—Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation and Helen and Sam Zell. It has also been made possible, in part, by the 1011 Foundation, Inc., Bobby Kotick; the Harriett and Richard Gold/Gold Family Foundation; Ronnie and Vidal Sassoon; and by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Additional support has been provided by Michael W. LaFetra; Trina Turk and Jonathan Skow; Adele Yellin; and the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs. The catalogue has been made possible, in part, by The Brotman Foundation of California. -- www.hammer.ucla.edu