Skip to Content

Free Form Occasional Table

A work made of walnut and brass.

Image actions

  • A work made of walnut and brass.

Date:

c. 1957

Artist:

Vladimir Kagan
American, born Germany, 1927

About this artwork

Described in the 1950s as “one of the leading designers of our day,” Vladimir Kagan found inspiration in both modern and traditional forms, from avant-garde European paintings to Russian folk art. For this table, Kagan’s muse was Constantin Brancusi’s sculpture Bird in Space, whose subtle, tapering curves inspired the spectacular base, a design that Kagan described as one of his favorites. While the pointed thrust of the table evokes the aerodynamics of the nascent space age, the tabletop owes a debt to the undulating, biomorphic shapes of Surrealism. Despite these cutting-edge associations, the table also represents a departure from the machine aesthetic of earlier decades and a return to handcrafting: with his business partner, Hugo Dreyfuss, Kagan designed all his furnishings, which were custom-made under the supervision of his father, Illi, a trained cabinetmaker.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Architecture and Design

Artist

Vladimir Kagan

Title

Free Form Occasional Table

Place

United States (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1952–1962

Medium

Walnut and brass

Dimensions

55.9 × 78.7 × 55.9 cm (22 × 31 × 22 in.)

Credit Line

The Orbit Fund

Reference Number

2009.232

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share