Textile (USA)

In 1950, Hugo Dreyfuss, an artist, textile designer and printmaker, partnered with the furniture designer, Vladimir Kagan, to form Kagan-Dreyfuss, Inc. The two met through the artist Emanuel Romano, the brother of Dreyfuss’s wife, Beatrice Glicenstein. Prior to partnering with Dreyfuss, Kagan’s business was a family operation, with his father overseeing the factory and his mother running the small shop on East 65th Street. Dreyfuss’s investment in the company enabled them to move to a larger, more prestigious location at 125 East 57th Street. Kagan-Dreyfuss expanded their range of products and began producing a catalog. Dreyfuss took particular interest in printed textiles. In addition to hand printing his own designs, Dreyfuss brought in a full-time weaver, Nadia Cheripov, who set up her loom in one of the display windows of the shop. The company also sold the work of Dorothy Liebes and other weavers. In 1960, the partnership was dissolved; Kagan closed the store and reopened at 81st Street and East End Avenue as a trade showroom, and Dreyfuss retired. At the time of proposed acquisition, the museum holds two chairs designed by Kagan—the Cubo chair no. 7012 and the Unicorn chair—as well as a number of furniture drawings. The museum also holds textiles designed by Dreyfuss for Kagan-Dreyfuss. This piece, hand printed for Kagan-Dreyfuss, will add depth to an already strong collection of 20th-century printed fabrics, particularly mid-century designs, including works by Lucienne Day, Alexander Girard, Jack Lenor Larsen, Paul Rand, Lanette Scheeline, and Angelo Testa.