VLADIMIR KAGAN (1927-2016) Important and Unique 'Unicorn' Sofacirca 1966model U-522, Vladimir Kagan Designs, Inc., aluminium, Jack Lenor Larsen vinyl upholsteryheight 30in (76cm); width 152in (386cm); depth 79in (200cm)

VLADIMIR KAGAN (1927-2016)
Important and Unique 'Unicorn' Sofacirca 1966model U-522, Vladimir Kagan Designs, Inc., aluminium, Jack Lenor Larsen vinyl upholsteryheight 30in (76cm); width 152in (386cm); depth 79in (200cm)

ProvenanceAcquired by Melvin and Audrey Troy for their home at Sand's Point, Long Island, New YorkThence by descentLiteratureVladimir Kagan, 'The Complete Kagan', New York, 2004, p. 81, p. 158 (illustrated in situ), p. 263"Believed in Me From the Beginning": Kagan Works from the Collection of Melvin and Audrey Troy"Many people who collected my work over the years became lifelong friends. Memorable among these are Melvin and Audrey Troy, who began acquiring my furniture in the early fifties for their house at Sand's Point, New York. Years later, they commissioned me to design the interiors for another magnificent house in Long Island, built by Olindo Grosso, who was Pratt Institute's dean of the school of architecture. Mel was a connoisseur. He collected everything from the finest wines to Cuban cigars. Mel and Audrey loved music and installed two grand pianos, belly to belly, in the living room. The challenge was to integrate music with the singular view of Long Island Sound, the sizable fireplace, and an indoor garden. All these elements were vying for attention. I could not envision the house cluttered with furniture to highlight each attraction so my solution was to build a large revolving stage, concealed by an Edward Fields rug. On this I placed a monumental semi-round sofa that comfortably seated eight to ten people for an evening's entertainment. Mel had a great sense of drama, and while the guests were eating would surreptitiously turn the stage 180 degrees from the sunset view to face the after dinner musical performance."Vladimir Kagan, from The Complete Kagan, 2004, p. 81.A unique example of Vladimir Kagan's famed 'Unicorn' sofa, custom made in the 1960s for his important clients and close friends Mel and Audrey Troy for the sitting room of their magnificent new home in Sands Point overlooking Long Island Sound.Kagan first designed the 'Unicorn' sofa around 1963, shortly after his partnership with textile designer and printer Hugo Dreyfuss dissolved in 1960. It was during the partnership with Dreyfuss that Kagan first experimented with aluminium, first for his 'Tri-Symmetric' line, and then the 'Unicorn' line first created in wood in 1957 but fully developed in the early 1960s. The inspiration for the eponymous 'Unicorn' pedestals were Constantin Brancusi's Bird in Space sculptures, produced from 1923-1940, that Kagan saw at MOMA in New York. Shiny, streamlined and reduced to the essence of animal motion, the sculpture echoes the biomorphism characteristic of Kagan's work and anticipates the vocabulary of aviation design, both key tenets of post-war modernism.The revolving platform on which the sofa sat in the Troy residence was designed in consultation with Melvin Troy, who was inspired by the circular revolving platforms found in car showrooms in the 1950s and 60s. In addition to providing theatricality to the space and wonderful views over the water, the platform offers multiple viewpoints of the sofa, as if it was a sculpture or work of art itself. As Kagan remarked "I wanted to create a piece of sculpture, and saw no reason why a chair could not have the same derivative spark."