Picked this up today... Not so Tiki, but I thought it was a great look. Anybody have any information on the House of Ran Su?

It appears it's title is "Vanguard"

Tikisgrl

I've heard of Sun Ra, but not Ran Su.

Damn that's cool! The name sounds like they made mid-century modernist Asian decor. Research it, New Yorkers!

cool! I tried finding info on this Ran Su and all I've gotten is other people inquiring who this person is...might be a job for a library search??? unless anyone else has info?

Thanks for trying to research. I have come up blank too. Is there a library that would actually have reference information on mid century kitch art?

Tikisgrl

In your dreams... :)
I would start with digging up 1960s Elmhurst N.Y. Yellow Pages and looking under "Interior Decor" or so. Or trade papers from the period might have had an ad by them. Was Elmhurst a town, or a suburb? The place is the only thing you have to go by, then the name, and an approximate period. This type of Tiki modernism did not flourish until the very late 50s, and was outdated by the mid to late 60s.

I did an eBay search on Ran Su and found two Birds - Oriole and Goldfinch for sale in a eBay Store.

Then I stole the pictures! :wink:

I did a little more Googling and found some other expired auctions. Looks like they made African and Caribbean stuff as well as Asian. I'm not sure if this is helping but I'm going to pretend it is, plus I'm in a posting mood.

Here are some more pictures that I stole.

Oriental Lanterns

I can see it now: Tiki Modern II - "The Wild World of Ran-Su" !

I can see how those oriental lanterns would really compliment Vanguard. I also was able to find a bunch of ebay auctions unfortunately none of them had any information. Oh well, unless someone lives in the Queens area the Vanguard may remain a mystery.

Tikisgrl

stoked (Tc member ) is bringin the heat back of ran su..
http://cgi.ebay.com/HAWAIIANA-HOUSEWARE-Vintage-Wall-Plaques_W0QQitemZ120264316280QQihZ002QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have no info about the place but I'm interested in hearing more ( I know its in Queens NY - not sure if its still there)

from the auction for Later use in TC world

[ Edited by: sneakyjack 2008-05-27 13:15 ]

Elmhurst is the home of the famous "Elmhurst gas Tanks"...giant gas tanks situated right next to the Long Island Expressway, which would rise and fall according to how full they were. It's in Queens.

Cool Tiki Modern art tho'.

Tres Tiki Modern indeed ....in a super cheapo cheesy way (which I mean as a compliment :) )
I like their titles:
"Their names are Thor, Explorer, and Vanguard."

Well, the little Norwegian girl inside me just could not resist these. Here's where they ended up. They're on my sort of miscellaneous wall.

Some nice House of Ran Su wall art - These more African than tiki, but still beautiful modernist pieces:

Here's the auction, (not mine), with a buy-it-now, or make-offer:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MID-CENTURY-MODERN-ABSTRACT-CUBIST-WALL-ART-eames-era_W0QQitemZ330250383154QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330250383154&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

Gee, that's mighty nice! I wanna see one of those in-store postcards from that place...or find an old catalog.

I found these guys at a thrift store in Omaha yesterday. It is good old "Vanguard" and his brother "The Devil".

Not than anyone probably cares, but upon closer inspection, I believe that the title of the horned example opposite "Vanguard" is "She Devil", not "The Devil".

I love all the pieces and will be actively looking for some to add to my bar.

KK

I love this stuff. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for it.

I, also, have a Ran Su piece hanging above my Grundig Majestic console player. I don't know anything about Ran Su but would love to. My parents bought this piece (called 'Bonefish') in 1959 or '60 when they bought their first house.

Borrowed pic from a VA shop that states these are from a Palm Springs estate "To The Arbitrator"....$500.00

We also have a Ran Su piece. My wife's parents gave it to her a long time ago. Does anyone know about this piece?
Thanks,
-Rich

This is what I have found on the now gone House of Ran Su in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. This company did their small part to supply the middle of the last century with Asian and Caribbean-inspired decor, generally in the form of wood cutout wall hangings. RanSu was a local art producer/framing company - really a Mom and Pop shop - somewhere near the IRT station at 90th street. Long gone as that neighborhood has gone thru a major alteration in the 60 years since that time.

Wonder if they ever made a catalog...if so, probably just hand-xeroxed sheets.

I love that some of these here are inherited from the previous generation.

I also wonder if the owners were named Randolph and Susan...

Here are some House of Ran Su work that's a lil' bit Caribbean and a lil'
bit rock 'n' roll with a nice cubist look to the faces. I like that the artwork states on back that it is "guaranteed hand colored" but I guess silkscreen is done by hand. Let me know if anyone might be interested in them.

I also have 3 pieces from Ran Su. They were my grandparents and now they belong to me.

We have two RanSu pieces - one acquired at a yard sale a few years ago [birds] but the other: the african mask heads was purchased AT the RanSu studio in Elmhurst, NY (part of flushing - somewhere near 90th st and the #7 Subway Line). That's near where we lived when I was very little. My folks had constructed an african themed playroom, and this piece was part of that decor. Now, 50 years later, we have "Zanzibar" our african themed guest room, which is designed around this work of art.
I understand that the artist(s) are no longer living, and that the studio ended production decades ago.
The value of the art is problematic - not high enough to buy/sell and profit from, but not low enough to just go on and collect for the heck (and beauty) of it. My daughter, the interior designer, has also found two through the years...and we'd love to find more. Email me if you have one to sell, but we can't pay anything like 'collector' prices. If you are anywhere from DC to BOSTON we may come pick up rather than add to the expense by shipping.

RanWiz {at} aol -or- yahoo {dot} com.

Wow: This page shows that the appreciation for Ran-Su more than any other mid-century "exotic" art seems to have been handed down through the generations. Very cool.

I'm glad someone is interested in RanSu. The artist and owner was my uncle Jerome Perlmutter. He grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, attended Newtown High School (which was behind their house) and went to Parsons School of Design. He was a commercial artist for a few years before starting his company, which he named for his two daughters, Randee and Susan.

He must have had some sort of catalog, as he distributed his wall decor to stores all over the country. Each figure was cut out in multiple using a saw, then hand painted by himself or his crew after the original design was painted by himself. (Andy Warhol followed his example!) He sent me once or twice to the NY Public Library picture collection when I was in college, but generally he went himself. This was before internet research!

I don't think his production runs were very large. He came up with new designs and color schemes all the time. He could really draw, and this is reflected in his designs, which were and are better drawn than most of this sort of art.

He lived in Merrick, Long Island, where he finally retired, and he died prematurely during a hip transplant operation several years ago.

I didn't know this before, but he was awarded a patent for a mat cutting machine! http://www.google.com/patents/US3463041

On 2014-11-21 10:09, aratinga wrote:
I'm glad someone is interested in RanSu. The artist and owner was my uncle Jerome Perlmutter. He grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, attended Newtown High School (which was behind their house) and went to Parsons School of Design. He was a commercial artist for a few years before starting his company, which he named for his two daughters, Randee and Susan.

He must have had some sort of catalog, as he distributed his wall decor to stores all over the country. Each figure was cut out in multiple using a saw, then hand painted by himself or his crew after the original design was painted by himself. (Andy Warhol followed his example!) He sent me once or twice to the NY Public Library picture collection when I was in college, but generally he went himself. This was before internet research!

I don't think his production runs were very large. He came up with new designs and color schemes all the time. He could really draw, and this is reflected in his designs, which were and are better drawn than most of this sort of art.

He lived in Merrick, Long Island, where he finally retired, and he died prematurely during a hip transplant operation several years ago.

I didn't know this before, but he was awarded a patent for a mat cutting machine! http://www.google.com/patents/US3463041

Your uncle was quite prolific, there are so many different designs out there! I agree, a catalog would be great, like this one from Jaru:

Do you have a photo of him? It's quite easy to post images here. Or a picture of his workshop, or his store?