American
1950s
Pencil on paper
Height 21 1/2" (54.6 cm) x Width 30 1/2" (77.5 cm) including period frame
Provenance: Vladimir Ossipoff, Honolulu
Vladimir Kagan was born in Worms, Germany in 1927 and emigrated to the United States in 1938, studying architecture at Columbia University before joining his father's cabinetmaking studio in New York. His furniture designs drew on the modernist traditions of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and the Bauhaus, and he went on to furnish commissions for the United Nations and high-profile clients including Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, and Walt Disney. This pencil drawing from the 1950s reflects the classical academic training that underpinned his design practice, with figural study serving as a foundation for his broader visual thinking.
The reclining nude is rendered in loose, confident line with minimal shading, the pose observed with the economy of a trained draftsman rather than an illustrator. Kagan's line moves freely across the paper, capturing the figure's weight and contour without overworking the surface. The work comes from the collection of Vladimir Ossipoff, the Honolulu architect and a significant figure in mid-century Hawaiian modernism.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
American
1950s
Pencil on paper
Height 21 1/2" (54.6 cm) x Width 30 1/2" (77.5 cm) including period frame
Provenance: Vladimir Ossipoff, Honolulu
Vladimir Kagan was born in Worms, Germany in 1927 and emigrated to the United States in 1938, studying architecture at Columbia University before joining his father's cabinetmaking studio in New York. His furniture designs drew on the modernist traditions of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and the Bauhaus, and he went on to furnish commissions for the United Nations and high-profile clients including Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, and Walt Disney. This pencil drawing from the 1950s reflects the classical academic training that underpinned his design practice, with figural study serving as a foundation for his broader visual thinking.
The reclining nude is rendered in loose, confident line with minimal shading, the pose observed with the economy of a trained draftsman rather than an illustrator. Kagan's line moves freely across the paper, capturing the figure's weight and contour without overworking the surface. The work comes from the collection of Vladimir Ossipoff, the Honolulu architect and a significant figure in mid-century Hawaiian modernism.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
