The Complete Kagan : A Lifetime of Avant-garde Design

New York: Pointed Leaf Press, 2004. First edition. Hardcover. New/as new. Quarto. 272pp. Index. Triple column text. Color photo dust jacket with white spine lettered in black, over blue pictorial boards with red spine lettered in white & black. Profusely illustrated with photos (many in color) and design drawings. A fine, as new copy.

Abstract: "Drawing from more than sixty years of personal and professional archives, award-winning and internationally renowned furniture designer Vladimir Kagan writes an autobiography that embodies the history of modern design in the twentieth century. Beginning with his childhood in Germany and his family's escape from Nazi power, he chronicles his rise to become one of America's most celebrated designers. Comfort, practicality, and an often-idiosyncratic modernist sensibility are the hallmarks of his enduring career, which is also noted for organic, sometimes modular, and always stylish pieces that have in the last decade experienced a major renaissance, influencing a new generation of furniture and product designers. This is the first complete compendium of Kagan's life and work, and includes dozens of never-before-published photographs and sketches."-- (OCLC)

Contents: Preface : Tom Ford reflects on the flair and timelessness of Vladimir Kagan designs -- 1927-1944: Parents and early childhood: a new start in America -- 1945-1950: Laying roots and initial influences -- 1950-1960: The Kagan-Dreyfuss showroom success and a growing clientele -- 1961-1980: Corporate work and designs for the future: new beginnings; the executive office -- 1981-2003: Responding to eighties style: vintage Kagan and new work -- Discovering the mass market -- Summary of products 1967. (OCLC).