29 Facts About Emil Milan

Emil Milan was an American woodworker known for his carved bowls, birds, and other accessories and art in wood.

Once prominent in midcentury modern design, Milan slipped into obscurity after his death.

Emil Milan's legacy has been revived by an extensive biographical research project that has led to renewed interest in his life, work, and influence.

Emil Milan was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and graduated from Abraham Clark High School in Roselle in 1940.

Emil Milan took up wood carving at an early age and learned shop skills from his father, who was an industrial welder.

Emil Milan enlisted in the US Army in 1942, served as a Military Policeman in Europe during WWII, landing on Omaha Beach just after the invasion and advancing across France with the 1st Army.

Emil Milan was the designer, set up and ran the shop, and supervised a small group of workers.

In 1957, a carved tray and two spoons by Emil Milan appeared in the Design Wood exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in New York City.

Also in that issue, Emil Milan's bird shaped hors d'oeuvres server was featured in the Designers Showcase section of the magazine.

Three works by Emil Milan were selected for the "Craftsmanship in Wood" display.

In 1961, Emil Milan bought a derelict dairy farm and moved to a rural setting near Thompson, Pennsylvania.

Emil Milan lived and worked there for the rest of his life.

Emil Milan taught at Peter's Valley Craft Center from the Center's inaugural year, 1971, through 1984.

Emil Milan taught methods he used carving sculptural forms and functional objects and about varieties of wood species, wood structure, and tool use and care.

Emil Milan taught by demonstration, encouraging individual creative expression and innovation in using both hand tools and power tools.

For several years in the 1970s, Emil Milan did woodworking demonstrations at the Harford Fair.

Emil Milan did demonstrations and workshops at high schools in Pennsylvania including Sullivan County High School, Carbon County Technical School, Montrose High School.

In fall 1964, Emil Milan joined noted furniture makers Joyce and Edgar Anderson and designer Gere Kavanaugh for several months in Honduras in a USAID program.

Emil Milan designed prototypes of functional and art objects as teaching aids and taught woodworking in Tegucigalpa.

Emil Milan periodically capitalized on grain patterns, intensive figure, and contrasting heartwood and sapwood colors as design elements in his works.

Emil Milan was frugal with wood and used scraps to make saleable functional and art objects.

Emil Milan was an innovator in woodworking methods and a pioneer in advocating the integrated use of hand and power tools, focusing on the excellence of the final product.

Emil Milan devised tools and techniques for increasing speed and efficiency without sacrificing workmanship.

Emil Milan made flat templates of his commonly produced works to rapidly transfer outlines onto wood blanks.

Emil Milan had several tools made for him by blacksmiths at Peter's Valley Craft Center, for example, and in at least one case made a wooden prototype of a specialized gouge to communicate his exact requirements.

Emil Milan routinely used the bandsaw as a carving tool, standing a slab up on edge and slicing off long thin curves of wood in closer and closer approximation of the final desired form.

Emil Milan continued to live alone in Thompson PA in the 1980s, but his health began to deteriorate.

Emil Milan died April 5,1985 and is buried in Thompson, PA.

Interest in Emil Milan has been renewed in recent years due to a biographical research project funded by the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design that yielded an extensive archival report documenting Emil's life and work, and an article in Woodwork magazine in 2010.