Florence Knoll for Knoll. Fireside chair. 1970s. LS5424886G

Florence Knoll for Knoll.
Fireside chair in powder-color fabric with chrome-plated metal base, square shape.
American work, 1970s.
Dimensions : H 70 x W 60 x D 70 cm
Reference : LS5424886G
Hans Knoll, son of German furniture maker Walter Knoll, founded the Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company in New York in 1937. Knoll Furniture Company in New York. In 1941, together with Jens Risom, he created a range of modern furniture using military surplus straps. He hired Florence Schust in 1943, after she had studied at the Cranbrook Academy and the Architectural Assocation in London and met Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius. She developed the company's rather Scandinavian style into the International Style, with more modern materials and forms.
In 1946, Florence and Hans married and founded Knoll Associates, where they developed modern furniture with sculptural forms created by renowned designers such as Eero Saarinen, Isamu Noguchi and Harry Bertoia. In 1948, the company acquired the production rights to Mies van der Rohe's designs. In the 1950s, the brand's visual identity was completely reworked thanks to the collaboration between Florence Knoll and graphic designer Herbert Matter.
In 1955, Hans Knoll died, but the company continued to enjoy great success thanks to Florence Knoll. She worked extensively on space and the integration of her furniture into the places in which it was placed. Her great acuity and sense of harmony enabled her to perfectly combine shapes, colors and materials.
She resigned in 1965, leaving the company to Cornell Dechert. The company underwent a number of changes, notably in its visual identity, which became more graphic and colorful from 1967 onwards, thanks to Massimo Vignelli. Then, in the 1970s and 1980s, the company's sales plummeted, creating major financial difficulties.
Finally bought out in the 1990s, the company became Knoll Group and gradually returned to the forefront with original creations by contemporary designers such as Frank Gehry, or the re-edition of old collections such as Mies van der Rohe's Krefeld collection or Harry Bertoia's seats.
Today, Knoll produces both new creations and re-editions, always with the company's characteristic style: modern, sleek and elegant.
Sources :
A. BONY, Les années 50, Éditions du Regard, 1982, p. 194
C.&P. FIELL, Twentieth-Century Design, Taschen Bibliotheca Universalis, 2018
P. KJELLBERG, Le mobilier du XXe siècle, dictionnaire des créateurs, Paris, Les éditions de l'amateur, 2000, p. 345-346
LUTZ Brian, Knoll Le design moderniste, Paris, éd. Chêne, 2010, p. 160

Ref: D54EC8ODIH