Vladimir Kagan

Exemplary custom-built midcentury modern cabinet designed in New York by Vladimir Kagan in 1960. The sleek geometry and symmetry of the multi-tiered cabinet is offset by a long, illuminated plane that angles to a resting surface, the positioning and focused use of horizontal banding within a vertical structure recalling midwestern prairie school architecture, or modernist and bauhaus aesthetics. An olive burl veneer adds naturalistic textural depth to the exterior of the wood, the acquired lacquered sheen basking and reflecting in the soft glow emitted from the unique light source.

Sofa designed to Vladimir Kagan’s specification in 1952, and typifying the designers mid-century design ethos that looked to reductions of form and exterior complexity whilst amplifying sophistication and sex appeal. The ‘Serpentine’ sofa was one of the earliest of Kagan’s successful pieces after opening his New York firm at just 22 — its long, low positioning and subtle use of curvature lending a distinction that redraws the furniture as a sculptural centrepiece within the living space. PROPERTY FROM THE STEDMAN COLLECTION, ARMONK, NEW YORK