The present lot comes from one of Rufus Stillman’s many interiors designed by Breuer. Stillman, Breuer’s greatest patron, commissioned more than twenty architectural projects as well as numerous furnishings—both professionally and personally—from the architect over the course of three decades. This desk was locally crafted by James Evangelisti in the 1970s and made to Breuer’s original specifications.

We can say that James Joyce was above all a writer for writers, Marcel Breuer can be considered a designer for designers. —Dino Gavina
This desk design was first produced for Marcel Breuer’s own home in New Canaan, Connecticut; drawings in the Marcel Breuer Archive date the all wood construction form to 1958. Italian entrepreneur, Dino Gavina visited Breuer in his home and added the Canaan desk design to his production line by 1962. Knoll acquired Gavina in 1968 and in 1970 a variation of the desk, Desk Canaan II featuring aluminum pulls and a different drawer configuration was put into production.



I am as much interested in the smallest detail as in the whole structure.
Marcel Breuer