Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA)

I was finally able to get my hands on a Giraffe family by Malcolm Moran (1923 – 2011). In the original box from Hudson's! They were the anchor tenant and the company who hired Victor Gruen to design the Northland Shopping Center [in Southfield, MI]. At the time, it was the largest shopping center in the country. Alvin Lustig collaborated with Gruen on the identity and signage. A number of artists were commissioned to do sculpture for the center. Besides Moran, there was Marshall Fredericks, Joseph Anthony McDonnell, and Lily Saarinen (Eero's wife). The original Moran sculptures in bronze stood 25 feet high. Hudson's offered dainty mementos for sale at the mall.

A fish sculpture by Moran was also at Northland. In 1975, Northland Center was enclosed as a mall, and a food court was added to the complex in 1991. The mall closed in 2015 and the City of Southfield purchased some of the sculptures. The whereabouts of the giraffe family is unknown.

From Esoteric Survey

LAMA is proud to present a special selection of design curated by Esoteric Survey, featuring more than 100 works that represent platform founder Steve Aldana's guiding fascination with mid-century design and design history in California. Drawing from Aldana's personal collection as well as from his design-minded community, this collection includes iconic works as well as deeper cuts that represent lesser-known, but nonetheless integral, achievements of postwar artists and designers. 

An urban planner by vocation, Aldana has nurtured his fascination with modern design, particularly the strains that emerged in mid-century Southern California, through Esoteric Survey for nearly 15 years. With a desire to share fascinating obscure design figures and document visits to architecture and design sites, he created the blog he named Esoteric Survey in 2009. What first served primarily as a private log for personal reference eventually blossomed into a valuable resource for like-minded design aficionados, and has since taken the form of an immensely popular Instagram account.

Explore Steve Aldana's Blog Esoteric Survey