Eldorado Country Club

Clubhouse 46000 Fairway Drive, Indian Wells, CA 92210

1957

William F. Cody, FAIA

“Glass mosaic, rock mosaic, and painting" [1]

[1] Tom Van Sant, “Resume,” c. 2014, TVS digital records

Top: Approx. 8 ft x 14 ft, w. glass mosaic figure approx. 8ft. tall.

Middle: Approx. 8 ft x 5 ft, w. glass mosaic logo approx. 4ft. diameter.

Van Sant's fee is unknown. According to the New York Times, the building cost "2,000,000." [1]

[1] "Art Accessories Move From Homes Into Club", New York Times, January 26, 1960, pg.28

N/A

Destroyed when the Clubhouse was remodeled.

Top: Julius Shulman photography archive, 1935-2009. Job 2921: Eldorado Country Club, 1960. For the New York Times. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10).

Middle: Courtesy of the Eldorado Country Club.

Bottom: Julius Shulman photography archive, 1935-2009. Job 2921: Eldorado Country Club, 1960. For the New York Times. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10).

Van Sant’s c. 2014 online resumé identifies “painting” as a component of this work. Paint does not appear to be present on the photographed mosaics, and it seems unlikely that paint would have been used on impervious glass in such exposed locations. However, Julius Shulman’s photographs of the Clubhouse interior indicate the presence of three potential Van Sant works. Resembling Van Sant’s most simplified figurative style, one depicts an angel (Shulman Job 2921-7), another a black man carrying a fish on his head (Shulman Job 2921-8), and a third of a figure lying along the back of a horse holding a lyre (Shulman Job 2921-11). The works appear to be paintings but might be woven. They may also have been executed by another artist entirely.

Architect William F. Cody is closely associated with the desert modern architecture of mid-century Palm Springs. His 1950 Thunderbird Country Club was “the world's first housing development facing a golf course and became the prototype for developments in every major US town.”[1] His subsequent work included the Eldorado Country Club and his own home in Palm Springs, for which Van Sant created the Bill Cody Mural.

Van Sant’s parents frequented the Eldorado Country Club, where his father “Muggs” Van Sant and President Eisenhower “were friends and frequent golfing companions...Both the Van Sant and the Eisenhower families have cottages there.”[2]

[1] “William Francis Cody Jr. FAIA (1916-1978),” US Modernist

[2] “Eisenhower Attends Van Sant Funeral Rite,” Los Angeles Times, Jan 8, 1964, pg. 21