Palm Beach Modern Auctions

Edward Wormley

1907-1995 (b. Rochelle, Illinois, USA)
Education: Art Institute of Chicago

Wormley began designing furniture in the late twenties, employed at Marshall Field's design studio in Chicago. In the early thirties he was hired by Dunbar, a company famous for hand-made production in an increasingly automated industry. His designs were well received and heavily publicized. He later opened is own office in New York in the mid forties, while continuing to consult for Dunbar. He produced the "Precedent" collection for the Drexel Furniture Company. He met great success following the production of the "Janus" series under a renewed commitment to Dunbar. His work was featured in Playboy in 1961.

Tommi Parzinger

1903-1981 (b. Munich, Germany)
Education: Kunstgewebeschule (School of Arts and Crafts)

Parzinger began working on a freelance basis in Germany – designing ceramics, furniture, lighting, textiles, and wallpaper – he later moved to the United States in the early thirties, shortly after winning a contest for a steamship company (North German Lloyd) for designing a poster, and settled in New York three years later (1938).

Parzinger is associated with Charak of Boston, Doryln, Rena Rosenthal (Smart Furniture and Accessories Shop), Parzinger Inc (later renamed "Parzinger Originals"), Salterini, Hofstatter Willow & Reed.

Karl Springer

1931-1991 (b. Germany)

Springer emigrated to New York in the late fifties with the intention of becoming a bookbinder. Instead he created decorative objects covered in animal skins using innovative methods while employed at Lord & Taylor. His designs attracted the attention of a Bergdorf Goodman buyer resulting in growing attention from a discerning clientele.

In the early sixties he opened a small workshop and began focusing on designing furniture. The Duchess of Windsor secured the success of his business, openly praising his designs to people of influence.

He is renowned for his pursuit of quality, his innovative methods and his use of a wide spectrum of materials.

Paul Evans

1931-1987 (b. Newton, Pennsylvania, USA)
Education: Philadelphia Textile Institute; Rochester Institute of Technology

Evans began crafting copper chests and sculpted steel-front cabinets in the fifties. He was one of two designers featured in an exhibition at the Museum of Arts & Design in New York (formerly known as a The Museum of Contemporary Crafts) titled "America House" in 1961.

Consistently signing his work, he insisted his pieces be produced by hand and supervised their production personally – establishing industry precedents in anticipation of the limited edition art furniture of today. He is associated with Directional Furniture, producing a number of furniture lines including his Argente series, Cityscape series, and Sculpted Bronze series. He contributed heavily to the American Craft Movement of the seventies.

Harvey Probber

1922-2003 (b. Brooklyn, New York, USA)
Education: Studied design informally at Pratt Institute

A self-taught modernist, inspired by plane geometry, Probber designed his first piece of furniture, a sofa, at the age of 16 – the design sold for $10.

He established his own furniture company, Harvey Probber Inc., in 1945 after a brief stint as a cabaret singer following his service in the United States Coastguard. His designs frequently featured understated modern lines softened with warm finishes, delicate hardware and bright colors. He once noted that his use of decoration was intended as a service to his clients, who weren't always content with modernism's academic purities. He is credited for the invention of sectional / modular seating in 1944.

T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings

1905-1976 (b. London, UK)
Education: Studied architecture at London University

Ensuing a brief stint as a naval architect designing ocean liner interiors, Robsjohn-Gibbings worked as an art director for a motion picture studio. In the mid twenties he worked as a salesman dealing in Elizabethan and Jacobean furniture, working accounts of notable prominence (e.g. Elizabeth Arden, Neiman Marcus).

He opened a shop on Madison Avenue in New York in the mid-thirties. His aesthetic is commonly described as a modern mixture of Ancient Grecian and Art Deco design. He was considered the most important decorator in America during the late thirties and forties, designing homes across the nation for the likes of Alfred A. Knopf, Doris Duke, and Thelma Chrysler Foy. He worked as a designer for Widdicomb from 1943–56. He met Susan and Eleftherios Saridis in 1960, eventually collaborating on the popular Klismos line. He became a designer for Aristotle Onassis, following his move to Athens.

Vladimir Kagan

1927-, (Worms on the Rhine, Germany)
Education: Studied architecture at Columbia University

Kagan moved to the United States in 1938. Shortly after his time at university he began working in his father's woodworking shop, learning the craft of furniture making. He opened a shop of his own in New York in the late forties. His shop catered to the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Walt Disney, and Gary Cooper. His work is collected extensively by celebrated presences in the world of art, theater, entertainment, and industry. His sought after pieces have enjoyed extensive publication.