No compromise, ever.
Florence Knoll
Knoll Design
From the Collection of Alvin H. Schechter
The original purchaser of the present lot was Alvin H. Schechter (b. 1933), a retired design and marketing consultant who was the chairman and chief executive officer of The Schechter Group in New York, a leading firm in the field of corporate branding and identity. In 1995 his firm merged with Interbrand US, the world’s leading brand consultancy, with Mr. Schechter appointed as its chairman. Clients of Interbrand-Schechter included H.J. Heinz, I.B.M., Mobil, Pepsico, Volvo and other Fortune 500 companies.
A great admirer of Knoll furniture and a Master of Fine Arts graduate of Yale University, Mr. Schechter began his distinguished career as a designer for Raymond Loewy Associates and is listed as a notable design and marketing consultant by Marquis Who’s Who. The recipient of numerous professional awards, he is an honored member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Package Design Council International. His influential essay, “Measuring the Value of Corporate and Brands Logos” Design Management Journal, Vol. 4, N° 1 (Winter 1993), raised a new awareness of the importance of graphic design in building corporate identity, which was a focus of Florence Knoll’s own practice in developing the Knoll company brand.
169
Florence Knoll
Executive Office cabinet
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $7,800
180
Florence Knoll
Cabinet, model 541
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $5,938
184
Florence Knoll
Early Executive Office desk
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $3,000
191
Florence Knoll
Early Executive Office cabinets, pair
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $8,125
Each time I go East I see something you have done. It is always good, and I feel grateful to you for doing such work in a world where mediocrity is the norm.
Charles Eames in a letter to Florence Knoll
Florence Knoll 1917–2019
Florence Knoll (née Florence Schust) was born in Michigan in 1917. As a child, she was enrolled in the Kingswood School, a division of the Cranbrook School of Art. Eliel and Loja Saarinen, parents of architect Eero Saarinen, quickly noted her talents, and she became a close friend of the family often joining them on vacations to their summer home in Finland. In 1935, Knoll studied urban planning at Columbia University and continued her degree at the Architectural Association of London from 1938 to 1939. World War II brought Knoll back to the United States where she finished her degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago studying under Mies van der Rohe. After graduating, Knoll moved to Massachusetts to work in the office of Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer.
Auction Results Florence Knoll
Florence Knoll
Executive Office cabinet
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $17,500
Florence Knoll
credenza
estimate: $5,000–7,000
result: $11,400
Florence Knoll
custom cabinet
estimate: $5,000–7,000
result: $11,250
Florence Knoll
cabinet, model 122
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $10,000
Florence Knoll
cabinet
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $10,000
Florence Knoll
Custom cabinet for Alcoa Headquarters, Pittsburgh
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $9,750
Florence Knoll
triple cabinet
estimate: $10,000–15,000
result: $9,600
Florence Knoll
credenza
estimate: $4,000–6,000
result: $9,600
Florence Knoll
credenza
estimate: $3,000–4,000
result: $9,600
Florence Knoll
credenza
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $9,375
Florence Knoll
cabinet from the CBS building, New York
estimate: $5,000–7,000
result: $9,375
Florence Knoll
Executive Office cabinet
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $8,750