Paul Evans  (American, 1931-1987) 

Paul Evans (American, May 20, 1931–March 7, 1987) was a furniture designer and sculptor. Born in Newtown, PA, he studied sculpture and silversmithing at several institutions, such as Philadelphia Textile Institute in Philadelphia, Rochester Institute of Technology, and School for American Crafstmen in Rochester, NY. In 1952, he attended the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and then moved to New Hope, PA, to work with his mentor, Phillip Loyd Powell (American, 1919–2008), who studied under George Nakashima (American, 1905–1990). Together, they began a business and creative partnership. While Powell worked with wood, Evans worked with metal.

Well-known for his contributions to American furniture Design, the American craft movement of the 1970s, and his work with the manufacturer Directional Furniture, Evans first began making cooper chests and then sculpted steel-front cabinets in the 1950s. In 1961, Evans and Powell held an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York, now the Museum of Arts & Design. In 1964, Evans became the designer for Directional Furniture and introduced several series of furniture lines, including the Argente Series and his popular Cityscapes series. He evolved his techniques and adapted some from the shipbuilding industry to produce large-scale pieces. By the 1970s, at the height of his production, Evans was delivering nearly 400 pieces a week to New York City.

In 1981, Evans left Directional Furniture and opened his own showroom in New York City. Unfortunately, because of changing tastes and diminishing sales, Evans had to shut it down, and retired in 1987. He died at the age of 56, on the second day of his retirement, in Nantucket, MA.