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DescriptionDesignerThe understated Norman Side Chair is cleverly crafted for timeless appeal and seamless adaptability. This molded plywood piece has been featured in museums and galleries, as well as artist Normal Rockwell’s masterpiece, “The Artist at Work”. Taking on a bowtie shape, the chair maximizes comfort despite the pared down silhouette. The concave backrest is widest at the shoulders and the seat is curved, allowing the body to relax easily. This item’s organic, the streamlined shape allows it to be suitable for either home or office environments.Material FeatureMolded plywood core with real wood veneerAvailable in walnut wood veneer and oak veneerVeneer finish natural oil based coatingAll materials are non toxic Baby friendlyDimensionsWidth 18.5 x Depth 21.5 x Height 31.5Seat Height 17.5 All measurements are approximations.A pioneer both in molded plywood and prefab housing, Norman Cherner studied and taught at the Columbia University Fine Arts Department and was an instructor at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 1947 to 1949. Here he also explored the Bauhaus movement, embarking on a lifetime exploration of multidisciplinary design, from furniture, shelving, glassware, lighting and even toys to his pioneering work in low cost prefabricated housing. Early in his career, Cherner envisioned houses as a total design concept and designed affordable furniture specifically for these low cost modular dwellings. He wrote about his theories in Make Your Own Modern Furniture 1953, How to Build Children’s Toys and Furniture 1954, Fabricating Houses from Component Parts 1958 and How to Build a House for Less than 6,000 1960. One of his first prefabricated houses was designed, produced and assembled in 1957 by the U.S. Department of Housing. After being exhibited in Vienna, it was shipped back to Connecticut and uncrated to become his first home and studio. Yet Cherner is best known for the molded plywood seating line he created for Plycraft, a manufacturing company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. After telling Cherner that his design for what is now known as the Cherner Chair 1958 had been scrapped, Plycraft’s owner continued to produce it, claiming himself as the designer. Soon after, the chair’s popularity was heightened when it appeared in Norman Rockwell’s 1961 painting “The Artist at Work” on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Cherner sued the company, and Plycraft agreed to pay Cherner royalties, yet the whole seating line was out of production by the early 1970s. For almost 20 years, Cherner’s seating was rarely seen outside of galleries, museums and the living rooms of a few lucky collectors. This all changed in 1999 when Cherner’s sons Benjamin and Thomas formed the Cherner Chair Company to revive the designs and produce them as their father originally intended. The repeated success of the chairs inspired Benjamin, an architect, and designer in his own right, to create a coordinating table, the Cherner Table 2004.
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