Above: A custom order ‘Marshmallow’ sofa designed by Irving Harper for George Nelson and Associates and manufactured by Herman Miller in 1956. Photo: Ross Floyd for Wright Auctions
Born in 1916 Irving Harper was an influential and prolific designer whose works are among the most recognized icons of American Modern design. After graduating from Cooper Union and Brooklyn College, Harper found a position as a draftsman for Gilbert Rohde (one of the fathers of American Modernism) in the 1930’s. While with Rohde’s firm Harper designed the Plexiglas Exhibit, the Anthracite exhibit, and the Home Furnishings Focal exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. He also worked as an interior designer for renowned industrial designer Raymond Loewy.
Irving Harper poses with some of his designs for fireplace accessories.
Promotional image of the Marshmallow sofa designed by Irving Harper for George Nelson & Associates and manufactured by Herman Miller in 1956. Photo: Herman Miller
After the Second World Harper met George Nelson and was offered a job as an interior designer. Harper promptly accepted the position and joined George Nelson & Associates in 1947. Interestingly, while Harper never studied as a graphic designer, one of his early commissions at George Nelson’s firm was the redesign of the Hermann Miller logo, a venture which saw the introduction of the large Herman Miller ‘M’ of which a variation of the original design is still in use today. After the logo Nelson felt Harper’s skills might be best used in graphics and for the next few months Harper designed several posters and advertisements for Herman Miller.
Some of the print ads designed by Irving Harper when he began working at George Nelson and Associates. Click on image for full view
In the late 1940’s George Nelson was approached by the Howard miller clock company to design a line of Modern clocks and, taking him away from graphics, Harper was tasked with designing the first of them. Harper decided to create clocks that were pieces of sculpture. “To omit numbers and have an abstract object that moved on the wall was something no one was doing at the time”. Many of these clocks, particularly the ‘Ball’ clock are now considered not only iconic, but highly prized by collectors with many of these designs having been re-introduced by Vitra of Europe in 2004.
In 1954 Irving Harper met a salesman from a Long Island plastics company and was introduced to a product that created 12 inch diameter self-skinning discs. Intrigued, George Nelson felt this technique could be used in the creation of low cost furniture and set Harper to coming up with a way of using the idea. In the course of one weekend Harper designed a sofa incorporating 18 of the discs in a whimsical pattern and shortly after the sofa was put into production by Herman Miller as the Marshmallow sofa, now considered one of the 20th century’s most iconic and enduring Modernist designs.
In 1963, after working for George Nelson for 17 years, Harper, fed up with Nelson receiving sole credit for the Associates designs, left Nelson’s firm. Harper felt that credit for the design should be given to the individual but Nelson’s stand was this may be fine in trade publications but not in the consumer market, believing that credit should only be given to the firm. After leaving the Associates, Harper joined forces with Phillip George and they started their own design studio Harper+George. The two of them went on to create designs for Braniff International Airways, Jack Lenor Larsen, Hallmark Cards, as well as many others. In 1983 Harper retired and in recent years had been busy creating playful and intricate paper sculptures that have been showcased in numerous publications and exhibits.
Some of the delicate and intricate paper sculptures created by Irving Harper in his retirement. Click on image for full view
On August 4, 2015, at the age of 99, Irving Harper passed away. They say that one of the metrics of whether or not a design can be considered iconic is when it is instantly recognizable in silhouette. Certainly this is true with the designs of Irving Harper. Whether the Ball Clock, Marshmallow Sofa, or the distinctive block form and delicate legs of a Thin Edge piece of furniture, his designs stand as a wonderful tribute to his creative genius. And while many know his designs through another’s name, Irving Harper came to get the full recognition he deserved and to see his work come roaring back into style. A fitting tribute to one of the greats of American Modernism
Irving Harper (1916 – 2015)
