George Nakashima - Important Design London Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Leticia Kent, New York, acquired directly from the artist, 1961
    Thence by descent to the present owner

  • Literature

    Roberto Aloi, L'arredamento moderno, settima serie, Milan, 1964, p. 102
    Judy Klemesrud, 'Living in a Cellar Has Its Advantages', The New York Times, 12 December 1966, illustrated pp. 66-67
    George Nakashima, The Soul of a Tree, A Woodworker's Reflections, Tokyo, 1981, pp. 38, 143, 173, 181
    Derek E. Ostergard, George Nakashima, Full Circle, exh. cat., American Craft Museum, New York, 1989, p. 160 for a similar example
    Mira Nakashima, Nature, Form & Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima, New York, 2003, pp. 82, 97, 156

  • Artist Biography

    George Nakashima

    American • 1905 - 1990

    Working out of his compound in rural New Hope, Pennsylvania, George Nakashima produced some of the most original and influential furniture designs of the post-war era. Nakashima aimed to give trees a second life, choosing solid wood over veneers and designing his furniture to highlight the inherent beauty of the wood, such as the form and grain. To this end, his tables often feature freeform edges, natural fissures and knot holes. Nakashima was an MIT-trained architect and traveled widely in his youth, gaining exposure to modernist design the world over.

    The signature style he developed was the distillation of extraordinary, diverse experiences, which led to the establishment of his furniture-making business in 1946. In particular, his practice of Integral Yoga, which he studied while working under the architect Antonin Raymond on the construction of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India, had a lasting impact on his philosophy as a designer.

    After returning to the U.S. in 1940, Nakashima's family was interned in an American concentration camp, a horrible ordeal that nevertheless introduced him to traditional Japanese joinery by way of a Nisei woodworker he met in the camp. He incorporated these techniques and also drew on American vernacular forms, such as the Windsor chair. These diverse influences have resulted in immense crossover appeal in the world of twentieth-century design collecting.

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Property from a Private Collection, London

87

Single-armed lounge chair

1961
American black walnut, hickory.
84 x 76.5 x 72.5 cm (33 1/8 x 30 1/8 x 28 1/2 in.)
Together with a copy of the original order card, correspondence and certificate of authenticity from Mira Nakashima.

Estimate
£5,000 - 7,000 

Sold for £6,250

Contact Specialist
Madalena Horta E Costa
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4019
mhortaecosta@phillips.com

Important Design

London Auction 21 March 2019