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Designer
Umanoff
Arthur Umanoff (1923–1985) was an American industrial designer known for his role in the American midcentury modern movement. He studied at New York's Pratt Institute and the American School of Design, graduating in the early 1950s. His…
Biography
Background
Arthur Umanoff (1923–1985) was an American industrial designer known for his role in the American midcentury modern movement. He studied at New York's Pratt Institute and the American School of Design, graduating in the early 1950s. His first collaborator was Post Modern Ltd, a New York company producing and selling modernist designs in wrought iron and wood.
Signature Style
Umanoff held that design should be beautifully constructed and functional, and also attainable. He used natural materials and new methods to reimagine traditional furniture pieces. His designs were often imagined in wrought iron, rattan, walnut and birch, with functional details and slender, tapered lines.
Notable Works
In the 1960s he worked closely with the manufacturer Shaver Howard, which took many of his furniture designs into production, and he also designed clocks for Howard Miller. Audo Copenhagen lists the Umanoff Side Table, Nesting Side Table, Wine Rack, Planter and Pendant as designs by him.
Legacy
The Umanoff Side Table, first designed in the 1950s, is reissued by Audo Copenhagen, and the Nesting Side Table is likewise credited to his 1950s work.
Collections
Products
Umanoff Pendant
Umanoff Pendant: geometric brushed brass and solid walnut give a soft glow downward.
Umanoff Side Table
Round walnut side table with a brushed brass rim and tripod frame, Ø 43 x H 45 cm.
Umanoff Nesting Side Table
Triangular nesting side table in solid walnut with a laminate top, W 45.5 x D 42.6 x H 41 cm.
