52 - Marcel Breuer

Marcel Breuer Canaan Desk with drawers and filing cabinet Rosewood Gavina Spa Edition 1962 H76 L146 P60 cm Signs of wear consistent with its age and use Dino Gavina was visiting Breuer’s country house in New Canaan. There, he discovered this masterpiece and decided to produce it under the name Canaan. Bibliography: Brera Academy of Fine Arts, “Dino Gavina: Ultrarazionale Ultramobile,” Editrice Compositori, Milan 1998, pp. 172, 173 Fondazione Scientifica Querini Stampalia, “Dino Gavina: An Iconic Collection of Modernism from 1950 to 1992,” Jaca Books, Milan 1992, p. 55 Virgilio Vercelloni, “The Adventure of Design: Gavina,” Jaca Books, Milan 1987, p. 30 In the early 1960s, the Bolognese publisher Dino Gavina met Marcel Breuer and set out to reissue his Bauhaus furniture, giving it the names by which it is now famous. During a visit to the architect’s home in New Canaan, Connecticut, Gavina discovered this desk and decided to produce it under the name Canaan. The design, understated and functional, combines a desktop, drawers, and a filing cabinet in a composition of great clarity. The model appears in the major works devoted to Gavina, including *Dino Gavina Ultrarazionale Ultramobile* (Brera, 1998) and *L'avventura del design: Gavina* by Virgilio Vercelloni (1987).