Vladimir Kagan. Early Desk. USA, circa 1949. Zebrawood, avodire. 29 x 48 x 19-5/8 inches (73.7 x 121.9 x 49.8...

Description

Vladimir Kagan
Early Desk
USA, circa 1949
Zebrawood, avodire
29 x 48 x 19-5/8 inches (73.7 x 121.9 x 49.8 cm)

PROVENANCE:
Commissioned directly from the artist;
Thence by descent to Private Collection, New York.

LITERATURE:
Vladimir Kagan, The Complete Kagan (New York: Pointed Leaf Press, 2004), p. 67 (for a period photograph of the present lot).

At the start of Vladimir Kagan's design career, before his early partnership with Hugo Dreyfuss led to the
formation of Kagan-Dreyfuss, Inc., there was a little shop on East 65th Street in New York called Kagan
Designs, Inc. Just a few years out of high school, the young Vladimir Kagan envisioned a boutique of domestic
inspiration, bringing together his distinctive interpretation of modernism, his father Illi's traditional furnituremaking skills, and a small collective of fellow designers and artists in related disciplines.

Displayed alongside Kagan's work were ceramic objects, lamps, sculptures, and tile tabletops by artists
including Mark Keram, Rose Krebs, Alexandra Kasuba, and Emanuel Romano. These pieces were selected by
Kagan to balance the angles and contours of his furniture, resulting in a unified whole that could be tailored
to suit any commission.

Lots 67026 and 67027 are among Kagan's very earliest furniture-custom pieces commissioned by the same
New York family that has cared for them to the present. Even at this early date, Kagan's characteristic marriage
of finely grained wood with a sharp silhouette is on full display. Lots 67028 and 67029 were acquired alongside
the custom furniture, an embrace by these early clients of Kagan's vision of collaborative design.



More information about Vladimir Kagan. See also: Kagan, Vladimir Artist.

Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000.

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