Charles Pollock (designer)

Charles Randolph Pollock (June 20, 1930 – August 20, 2013) was an industrial designer who created sleek furniture, most notably an office chair held together by a single aluminum band that became known as a Pollock Chair. This iconic chair, introduced in 1963 and still in production,^[1] became a staple of executive offices in the United States in the 1960s and can be seen, appropriately, in the period television show, Mad Men, as well as institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Metropolitan Museum of Art^[2][3][4]

Education and early career

Pollock studied at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute, and after serving in the US Army, he was hired by George Nelson. They designed and sold "swag leg" chairs, characterized by curved legs. These were commercially successful.

Later career

After the production of the Pollock Chair (1963) for Knoll, Pollock designed the Penelope Chair for Castelli (1982.) After this period, Pollock did not see success with new designs until Jerry Helling, head of Bernhardt Design, tracked him down and asked him to design furniture for his firm. Pollock designed the CP lounge chair, a contoured chair which won critical praise.

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