Set of two "grass-seated" armchairs in the taste of George Nakashima (1905-1990)

Lot 119 - Set of two "grass-seated" armchairs in the taste of George Nakashima (1905-1990)
Dining chairs made of blackened wood, reminiscent of the tradition of Japanese craftsmanship. Sitting rope.
20th century
Provenance: Architecture college in Amhedabad, India
Dimensions: H: 79; W: 61; D: 48 cm
George Nakashima was born in Spokane, Washington in 1905. Cabinetmaker and designer George Nakashima began his studies in forestry and architecture at the University of Washington and received his B.A. in architecture in 1929. He then studied at the American School of Fine Arts near Paris, France, and received his master's degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1980.
He began his career as an architectural designer for the Long Island State Parks and the New York State Government. In 1933, he moved to Japan and then to India, Amhedabad, where he learned traditional craft cabinet making. During his stay in Japan, he worked with the American architect Antonin Raymond. In the early 1940s, he returned to the United States and started his furniture workshop in Seattle. During the Second World War, George Nakashima and his family were sent to an internment camp, where George Nakashima learned to work on salvaged wood with a Japanese master carpenter. The Nakashima family was liberated in 1943, with the help of Antonin Raymond, a resident of New Hope. Later, George Nahashima devoted himself to building altars of peace on all continents, starting with a huge black solid walnut piece in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.
His work emphasizes the natural beauty and simplicity of the wood, with rough edges and a special emphasis on craftsmanship. George Nakashima has collaborated with Knoll, Widdicomb-Mueller, among others, and in 1973 designed over 200 pieces for Governor Rockefeller's Tarrytown, New York.