Doyle Lane / Lytton Savings

The interior of this branch was designed by Adele Faulkner F.A.I.D. She did multiple Lytton interiors and was the first woman in Southern California to be named a fellow in the American Society of Interior Designers.

Photo: Julius Shulman,  GRI Digital Collections

A Claire Falkenstein wall sculpture in the upstairs office of the branch. The bank's founder, Bart Lytton (1912-69) was a major art collector and helped found LACMA. The Lytton Gallery was one of the museum's first 3 buildings. In 1968 it was renamed the Frances and Armand Hammer Building after a disagreement over the museum’s collection. According to the LA Times, Lytton wanted it to feature regional artists, while museum officials favored internationally acclaimed work. “The Medicis particularly promoted the artistic output of their beloved city of Florence,” Lytton tells The Times. “While I make no immodest presumption that I can begin to match the Medicis, I want to do what I can.”

In 1961 he established the Lytton Center of the Visual Arts, which held regular exhibitions of mostly California Contemporary Art.  It is considered as one of the first corporate art programs in the United States. This 1966 exhibition had quite a line up of artists. Although exhibitions were sometimes held held at satellite sites, the center was housed in the recently-demolished Lytton Savings on Sunset Blvd.   

Bart Lytton and Helen Lundeberg in front of one of Lundeberg’s planet paintings.
Along with art, Bart Lytton was a modern architecture fan. Here is Bart and Kurt Meyer in front of Irving Gill's Dodge House, which was under threat of demolition. The two established a group that was able to save the Dodge house by purchasing it. That was short lived, because although Lytton Savings was the fifth largest savings and loan entity in the United States, by 1968 it was bankrupt. With that, Bart Lytton's personal wealth was gone as was his ability to support his passions. Lytton Center of the Visual Arts closed in 1969 and in 1970 the Dodge house was sold off and demolished. On learning of the demolition, Kurt Meyer said, "This is like slashing a Rembrandt with a razor."

Most of the furniture in the office was by Knoll, including a Bastiano sofa and chairs by Afra and Tobia Scarpa.

So I took a trip out to Canoga Park. The building is still there and is now a Chase.  

Unfortunately, no Lane tiles, artwork or anything else original for that matter. I was told the bank was remodeled about four years ago.  I'm sure the good stuff was gone decades before that. 

I do wonder how the Doyle Lane tiles ended up being used in the project. He was known to market his work directly to architects, so it makes sense that he knew Meyers. Or was it  through the interior designer, Adele Faulkner? Bart Lytton was a fan of California art, so was it him?

Kurt Meyer with another Lytton Savings and Loan, this time with Brentwood Savings (1964).

Is that you Doyle?