OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness."
-Oscar Wilde
Once you see Cedric Hartman's influence, you can't not recognize it.
In the purest explanation, Hartman wants you to see the light, not the source.
He and his team provided KMTV with access rarely granted for Positively the Heartland.
Continue reading for the broadcast transcript of this story.
How many things are as stunning as they are practical?
"This is a 1UWV that I'm working on here. Everything is built by hand," Dan Knobbe gestured.
The reading lamp, along with the 1H, are two Cedric Hartman works in New York's Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection - designed in Omaha and released in 1966.
It's exceptionalism recognized by Hartman's clients.
"There are many of them around New York. Nelson Rockefeller was a customer. And Yves Saint Laurent was a customer of my early lighting. And that perfumer named Givenchy? You know the name?," Hartman, questioned with a smile.
At 96 years old, he is still very much part of the business.
"He sat and would calculate how big he wanted the light ring and so, what was the height you had to have that off the floor in order to cast that ring of light. I mean, the thought that just went into all of these was just incredible," Knobbe admired.
Though Hartman has lived other places, including Paris - it's Omaha where he always felt free to create.
"(The city is) a kind of clearer, open easel on which to work," he described.
In making luminaires, the team often starts with solid metal like nickel and uses computerized milling.
"In that one, I'm making feet for the 91 model. In this one, I'm making plugs that go in the table legs," Adam Theede motioned in between machines.
He said, at Cedric Hartman, Inc., they mill and polish nearly every single piece.
"We make art, but it serves a utility, too," James Franksen, president, conveyed. He joined Hartman's team 25 years ago, and today, is in charge of the workshop studio.
"Most things that we make here never make it to market. We're basically a prototyper," Franksen added.
Working on custom light boards, Jeremy Rech is an LED specialist. In him, we get a glimpse of where this company is going under Hartman's name.
"Still take the spirit of everything he's done for decades and just the amount of work and care that he's put in different designs. And hopefully not disappoint him," Rech explained, as he worked.
Advancements in technology mean some of Hartman's decades-old designs can now be produced. However, he's never wanted his legacy to be about him.
"I would like it to be the pursuit of good ideas in design across the board," he insisted.
A humble revolutionary.
Hartman has lit the way as no one before him conceived.