George Nelson (1908-1986)
Pair of large coffee tables with iron frames and beveled glass tops resting on small colored wooden spheres.
Herman Miller, USA, ca. 1950.
George Nelson was a leading figure in 20th-century American design, an architect, designer, and longtime creative director of Herman Miller.
In the 1930s, he lived for a period in Rome on a scholarship, coming into contact with Italian rationalist architecture and figures such as Gio Ponti. He was among the first to promote Italian design in the United States, helping to raise awareness of some of the most important 20th-century Italian architects and designers overseas.
His creations, from modular furniture to iconic wall clocks, remain symbols of the most elegant and innovative American modernism.