VLADIMIR KAGAN MEMORIAL April 26th, 2016 Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand Nantucket winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on Swiss Mountain snow. I am the sunlight on each sandy grain. I am the gentle Central Park autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of pelicans in weightless flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die. Adapted by... Continue reading

August 29, 1927 - April 7, 2016 Photo by Harry Bensen Dearest Blog Fans and Readers, It is with great sadness that we share the news many of you have heard by now. Our father Vladimir Kagan passed away in Palm Beach, Florida where he suffered a heart attack in the early morning hours. He was a loving father, mentor to many, and friend to all. A luminary of 20th century design, he changed how mid century furniture was perceived and conceived. Over time we will post some musing on Dad with more photos to come and perhaps even a... Continue reading

The Importance Of Weight Maintenance Copyright Vladimir Kagan, April 1, 2016 Everyone is obsessed with weight loss; I am concerned about weight maintenance. This is important for sustaining happiness. It is difficult to do under the pressure of the weight-loss movement. These are my recommendations: Breakfast: the eye-opener meal - very important to start the day right! ‘Firstly’ a good breakfast is mandatory. It provides you with the energy to get through the day. This is NOT a meal to have on the run. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee and bacon must fill the air to prime you for... Continue reading

The MAD Museum finally has its MAD show Copyright Vladimir Kagan, March 27, 2016 The Kagan team - Chris Eitel, my design director - me - Illya Kagan, my son the artist “I’m just a guy who can’t say no!” I go to every party. I even fly across the continent when sent tickets. But, for once in my life I passed on an opportunity. This time I really regret not showing up for a book signing for Flemish designer Jobs Smeet and his Dutch partner, Nynke Tynagel of Studio Job, My rational? “Who needs another book for my already... Continue reading

From Palm Beach to Palm Springs An Odyssey Copyright Vladimir Kagan, February 20, 2016 In November of 2015 a conspiracy was launched to drag me from the East Coast to the West Coast: Palm Beach to Palm Springs. That didn’t sound too daunting all those months ago, but as time grew closer, the reality set in. Why leave Florida’s sunny beaches for California’s arid deserts? Answer: They needed a feature speaker for Palm Spring’s Modernism Week –Who better than me? I could talk up a storm about Mid-Century Modern. This is what the road into the desert should look like... Continue reading

The Palm Beach Modern & Contemporary Art Fair 2016 Copyright Vladimir Kagan, January 23, 2016 I wasn’t going to write about this show. contemporary art has become a science class. Experimentation is the buzzword. 'Putz' around with LED lights; flashing, changing colors, twirling, snaking. There were neon signs of yesterday reinvented. There were three-dimensional ‘paintings’ with appliquéd metal, plastic and paper. There were the tricky paintings intended to fool the eye, trumpe l’oeil. There was art using automotive enamels, a robotic artist painting all day on an electronic canvas, a diminutive Indian artist ‘plucking’ paper. There was manipulated photography and... Continue reading

The Stella Retrospective at the Whitney Copyright Vladimir Kagan January 3, 2016 Walk off the elevator on the 5th floor of the Whitney and you are confronted with a 30 0r 40 foot long paining of 'The Earthquake in Chili". Why Stella chose to write the title in German escapes me. Let’s talk Frank Stella – my favorite artist. Frank Stella is prolific, imaginative, a powerhouse. He neither stands still nor rests on his laurels. Other artists live and die with their signature handwriting; Stella reinvents himself and emerges more vivid with each rebirth. The Whitney Museum’s Retrospective, in their... Continue reading

In Celebration of the George Washington Bridge Copyright Vladimir Kagan December 20, 2015 I cross the GWB (George Washington Bridge) four or five times a week to and from my studio in Clifton N.J. Thousands of cars and trucks join me each day. For trucks it’s the only route between Manhattan and New Jersey as they are banned from the tunnels. This enormous overpass is the conduit for millions of cars each year. It boasts the most traffic of any suspension bridge in the world. To pass the time, I am on my cell phone or directing the Uber driver... Continue reading

A Walk In The Country PART 2 Discovering Grace Farms Copyright Vladimir Kagan, December 10, 2015 …. By mid-afternoon the weather had turned to glorious sunshine - just in time for our visit to the newly opened Grace Farms. Most people have never heard of Grace Farms as it had only opened to the public a few weeks earlier. photos Dean Kaufman Like all architectural masterpieces, Grace Farms would not have seen the light of day without its patrons. Versailles, had King Louis XIV, the Louvre with gratitude to Napoleon. The Parthenon in Greece, the Pyramids in Egypt, the Coliseum... Continue reading

A Walk In the Country In Search of Modern PART 1 Copyright Vladimir Kagan, December 2, 2015 A few weeks ago, I lauded my friend Zaha Hadid. This time I sing my praise to two Japanese architects, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the firm SANAA. Both Zaha Hadid and SANAA have won the Pritzker Award; both are at the peak of their success; both compete for the same projects. There is a tug-of-was between the deconstructionism of Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry vs. the esthetic understatement of Mssrs. Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. Both styles are important statements of... Continue reading

A Nostalgic Visit To London Copyright Vladimir Kagan, November 17, 2015 How does one describe a week in London, overshadowed by the recent tragedies in Paris? Friday the 13th took on new meaning. The shock waves arrived at a quiet dinner in an unprepossessing Indian restaurant. The appalling news came via America. Billy, Jessica’s husbands called to ask “have you heard?” Once we turned on the ‘Telli’, the information flow went viral. CNN is macabre news reporting machine thriving on calamity. Their talking heads keep repeating their doomsday harangue none-stop. My mother used to call it “oral diarrhea.” Thank you... Continue reading

Halloween It aint what it used to be Copyright Vladimir Kagan, November 1st 2015 Welcome to my Halloween party! Halloween used to be a gentle holiday for children. Dress-up funny; wear a mask, a jester’s hat. ‘Trick or Treat’ was a sweet opportunity for the little ones to collect candy. No one ever put you to the test of “trick”. It had its origin in Celtic folklore and morphed into the Christian world as a festival of fall. It was a celebration. Not anymore. It has become a vehicle for protest, free speech, and political correctness. The Gay community has... Continue reading

The Indomitable Wendell Castle Copyright Vladimir Kagan October 24, 2015 If there is one person who’s work I have admired all of my life, who’s work stands out as art transmuted magically into furniture, who has been true to his muse and at age 83 still creates monumental works, it’s Wendell Castle. A reunion of old friends: Nancy Jurs, Wendell's wife, Vladi and Wendell Castle at the opening reception for Wendell's Retrospective show at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD Museum) Wendell Castle is not a furniture maker; he is a sculptor creating vessels for sitting. He is not... Continue reading

The Zen of Model Boat Building Copyright Vladimir Kagan October 15, 2015 Zen noun: Zen; noun: Zen Buddhism a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition. Several weeks ago I ranted about my niggling personal faults: “I am compulsive - impulsive – slap-dash and never measure!” There is one cure for that: Build a model boat! It teaches patience and precision, resulting in the deep satisfaction of working with your hands. It liberates you from the computer. It is reasonably quick and does not exhaust your attention span. And most satisfying: it gives you bragging... Continue reading

The Indomitable Zaha Hadid Copyright Vladimir Kagan, October 6, 2015 There is no glass ceiling that can hold back Zaha Hadid – she has catapulted through shatterproof glass and is today, the best modern architect in the World. Zaha is a force to be reckoned with, the most creative architect in the 21st Century. She has out-curved Frank Gehry and Santiago Calvatava, the acknowledged masters of the genre. Zaha is the only woman to win the Pritzker award – the World Series of architecture. Awards have been piling up ever since. She is not a computer doodler. Zaha draws. She... Continue reading

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker’s Man Bake me a cake as quick as you can! Copyright Vladimir Kagan, September 27, 2015 "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man", "Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattyc", "Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattycake" is one of the oldest and most widely known surviving English nursery rhymes." What are the two of the most important gifts that the Jewish people have bestowed upon their Christian neighbors (other than the Bible and the Ten Commandments???) Answer: Bagels and Chopped liver This is an ecumenical Blog with my friend Caleb Cressman (not Jewish) teaching Vladimir Kagan (Jewish) how to make New York Style... Continue reading

Vintage vs. Classic Copyright Vladimir Kagan, September 13, 2015 I have recently been asked to define the difference between Kagan Vintage and Kagan Classic furniture. I thought that the answer was worthy of a Blog. In doing my research for this article. The issue of fakes, wannabes and misrepresented furniture begged to be explored. The comparison is amusing and revealing. To get you started on Vintage vs. Classic 101, here is the Wikipedia description: “Antique furniture is furniture that is at least 100 years old - plain and simple. This is the definition that is most widely accepted by experts... Continue reading

Measure Three Times - Cut Once! Copyright Vladimir Kagan, August 29, 2015 Measure Three Times - Cut Once! This was my father’s admonition seventy-odd years ago. It was a lesson that I never learned! It is the story of my life. I am compulsive and have always cut three times and didn’t bother to measure! - It is how I became a furniture designer instead of a cabinetmaker! Furniture design is a haphazard endeavor that relies on visual recognition, the ability to draw well and pray that sometime in the future proper measurements are put to each design. Cabinet making,... Continue reading

The True Vladimir Kagan Revealed Copyright Vladimir Kagan, August 21, 2015 Your favorite Blogger at home - photo courtesy of The New York Social Diary Many of you have followed my career as a furniture designer; a few of you may have seen my homes through publications or an actual visit. Here’s an opportunity to take a virtual-reality trip through my New York apartment. My reputation has placed me amongst the celebrated minimalist of the fifties. How wrong they are. My designs may be: Sexy curves! A generous use of colors! Clean architectural details Minimalist: heck no! My motto “More... Continue reading

Perceptions Copyright Vladimir Kagan, August 5, 2015 The Rorschach test (/ˈrɔrʃɑːk/ or /ˈrɔərʃɑːk/,‪[3]‬ German pronunciation: [ˈʀoːɐ̯ʃax]; also known as the Rorschach inkblot test, the Rorschach technique, or simply the inkblot test) is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation. The test is named after its creator, Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. In the 1960s, the Rorschach was the most widely used projective test.‪[5]‬ and was ranked eighth among psychological tests used in outpatient mental health facilities.‪[6]‬ Currently... Continue reading

If Trees Could Talk Copyright Vladimir Kagan, July 22, 2015 Trees; those noble beasts that live within our midst and provide us with shade in the summer. It is said that temperatures under trees are 10% lower. Silent, except for the rustling of their leaves, the swoosh of swaying branches and the occasional frightening crack of a breaking limb. Their lifespan exceeds any other living thing. Their fruit feeds millions, their foliage purifies our air, their stems build our shelters, their limbs heat our homes and transformed into charcoal, they heat millions of cooking stoves. They are God’s gift to... Continue reading

The Whitney Museum Copyright Vladimir Kagan, June 21, 2015 The Whitney Museum of America Art in its new location in the Meat Packing District, a fun user-friendly building by prize-winning architect Renzo Piano. For the past 54 years, the Whitney Museum of American Art has been a shrill outsider in the hoi polio neighborhood of the Upper East Side; a location better suited for the Metropolitan Museum and The Frick Collection. Its only comparable neighbor had been Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum; a work of art in its own right. The Whitney has finally returned to its roots. Not quite... Continue reading

Design Week in New York Part 2 Copyright Vladimir Kagan, June 7, 2015 Three years ago Steven Lerner, an enterprising young architect, found a cavernous empty space in the abandoned U.S. Post Office Sorting Facility on West 30th Street. Steven came up with the idea of replicating the off-premises shows that were such a huge success at Salone Del Mobile in Milan. He solicited a handful of small galleries in the USA and European to exhibit their artisans in a start-up show he called Collective Design. Today Collective Design is the premium exhibit of Design Week. The show relocated to... Continue reading

Design Week in New York Part 1 Copyright Vladimir Kagan, May 31, 2015 New York has its Fashion Week, Fleet Week, Bike Month, Manhattan Cocktail Classic… and finally the spotlight was on us with DESIGN WEEK, (which ended two weeks ago) It all started some twenty years ago with a small event called ICFF held in a newly built glass palace on 11th Ave. called the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Designed by I. M. Pei after his huge success with the Louvre addition in Paris. ICFF was the brainchild of a group of young entrepreneurs who were inspired by the... Continue reading

Reflections on a Little Treasure in South Florida Copyright Vladimir Kagan, April 26, 2015 I Have just returned to frigid New York after spending the last month in balmy Florida. The next few Blogs are my recollections of what I have left behind. +++++ Barreling down a six-lane highway on route to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, you hardly think of exiting in Delray Beach for a visit to a Japanese garden. It has always been on my back-burner until I needed some entertainment for visiting friends and family. A Japanese garden in Florida? With lakes – pagodas - topiary trees... Continue reading