“A central figure in the postwar American crafts movement,” according to the New York Times. Maloof was the first craftsman to be awarded the MacArthur “genius” grant, and it is easy to see why; the quality of the woodwork on his self-built house made it almost a museum to the craft (it’s now on the National Historic Register) and one of his elegant rocking chairs recently sold for $80,000. Of the dozens of rockers he produced, most are in museums, including the Smithsonian. Even with all the fame, throughout his life Maloof would respond with one word to his own question: “Woodworker.”
