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20th Century White American Four Seater Sofa - Vintage Settee by Vladimir Kagan

Name: 20th Century White American Four Seater Sofa - Vintage Settee by Vladimir Kagan
Brand: Vladimir Kagan
Price: 18700 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

A vintage Mid-Century modern American four seater sofa with four pillows, designed by Vladimir Kagan in good condition. The high seat backrest of the settee, canapé curves seamlessly into a wide and tall armrest. Newly upholstered in a white bouclé fabric from Pierre Frey. Label at the bottom. Wear consistent with age and use. Circa 1960 - 1970, United States. Seat: 19" H x 78" W x 32.5" D Pillows: 24" H x 24" W x 5" D / 22" H x 22 " W x 5" D Vladimir Kagan was an American / German furniture designer born in 1927 in Worms, Germany and passed away in 2016. Kagan’s father was a Russian cabinetmaker, where he learned his first basic skills of developing and designing furniture. In 1938, he emigrated the United States, where he started painting and manufacturing sculptures, but later on he focused more on design and architecture. In 1947, Kagan graduated as an architect from Columbia University in New York City. Later, in 1949, Kagan opened his first retail store, where he became extremely well-known. Marilyn Monroe was one of his first clients.

Creator:

Vladimir Kagan (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 38.5 in (97.79 cm)Width: 94 in (238.76 cm)Depth: 50 in (127 cm)

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Bouclé,Fabric,Upholstery,Wood,Hand-Crafted

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

Mid-20th Century

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1960 - 1970

Condition:

Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

West Palm Beach, FL

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU1622235199932

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Shop All Vladimir Kagan

Vladimir Kagan

The pioneers of modern furniture design in America in the mid-20th century all had their moments of flamboyance: Charles and Ray Eames produced the startling, biomorphic La Chaise; George Nelson’s firm created the Marshmallow sofa; Edward Wormley had his decadent Listen to Me chaise. But no designer of the day steadily offered works with more verve and dynamism than Vladimir Kagan. While others, it seems, designed with suburban households in mind, Kagan aimed to suit the tastes of young, sophisticated city-dwellers. With signature designs that feature sleekly curved frames and others that have dramatic out-thrust legs, Kagan made furniture sexy.

Kagan’s father was a Russian master cabinetmaker who took his family first to Germany (where Vladimir was born) and then to New York in 1938. After studying architecture at Columbia University, Kagan opened a design firm at age 22 and immediately made a splash with his long, low and sinuous Serpentine sofa. Furniture lines such as the Tri-symmetric group of glass-topped, three-legged tables and the vivacious Contours chairs soon followed.

Kagan’s choices of form and materials evolved through subsequent decades, embracing lucite, aluminum and burl-wood veneers. By the late 1960s, Kagan was designing austere, asymmetrical cabinets and his Omnibus group of modular sofas and chairs. For all his aesthetic élan, Kagan said that throughout his career, his touchstone was comfort. “A lot of modern furniture was not comfortable. And so comfort is: form follows function. The function was to make it comfortable,” he once commented. “I created what I called vessels for the human body.”

A diverse group of bodies have made themselves at home with Kagan designs. Among the famous names who commissioned and collected his designs are Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, Andy Warhol, David Lynch, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and firms such as Gucci and Giorgio Armani. His work is in numerous museum collections, including those of the Victoria & Albert and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Because of its idiosyncrasy, Kagan’s work did not lend itself to mass-production. Kagan never signed on with any of the major furniture-making corporations, and examples of his designs are relatively rare. As you will see from the offerings on 1stDibs, even decades after their conception, Kagan pieces still command the eye, with their freshness, energy, sensuality and wit.