George Kovacs (1926-2007) Austrian/American, Mid Century Modern Wood Column Table Lamp. A sturdy rectangle of polished wood forms the body of the lamp, with a metal socket on top and the original cord coming out of the base. Label on felt underside. 

Condition: We cannot guarantee the working condition of any lighting objects. Commensurate with age. 

Size: 4 x 4 x 21 1/4 in. 

George Joseph Kovacs was born in Vienna, Austria on December 23rd, 1926. After the Nazis occupied the country he was sent to England on a Kindertransport train, and after the war he and his surviving family immigrated to the United States. In 1949 he graduated from college and took work at a lamp store in New York City, quickly becoming fascinated by both lighting and design. He enrolled at the Pratt Institute Institute to study design, where he met his future wife Barbara, an artist. In 1954 he opened his own lamp store, and after his marriage they honeymooned in Austria, where he met and struck up a business relationship with the lamp manufacturer J. T. Kalmer. By 1956 he had opened a second location and was importing fine  European furnishings, as well as rapidly coming up with designs of his own that Kalmer would make for him. Eventually, drawing on lessons he had learned studying the Arts and Crafts movement, he shifted away from retail and focused solely on manufacturing, creating and marketing the first American-made halogen torchiere lamp and revolutionizing the American lighting market. Kovacs began to travel the world, bringing the lighting designs of acclaimed artists like Isamu Noguchi and Ingo Maurer to the United States and the forefront of the Mid Century Modern movement. His collaborations with renowned designers such as Hariri & Hariri, Robert Sonneman, Karim Rashid, Harry Allen, Rachel Simon, and Alecia Wesner made him an icon of the industry. He died on June 22nd, 2007 at his home in Manhattan from emphysema, leaving behind a design legacy that influenced several movements throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, and his works can be found in numerous museums including the Cranbrook Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institute.

We cannot guarantee the working condition of any lighting objects. Commensurate with age.