Karl Springer (Designer)

Karl Springer (* 1931 in Berlin ; † December 4, 1991 in Manhattan ) was a German-American designer and manufacturer of luxury furniture and accessories .

Life

Karl Springer emigrated to New York City in 1957 . The window decorator initially worked at Lord & Taylor , where he was able to use his knowledge of bookbinding to create telephone tables and picture frames with snakeskin and other exotic materials, while developing new methods. A buyer from the New York luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman took a liking to his handcrafted designs, which soon attracted a discerning clientele.

At the beginning of the 1960s he opened his first small workshop, in which he concentrated on high-priced furniture design from 1965. The Duchess of Windsor Wallis Simpson was enthusiastic about Springer's designs and recommended him to her circle of friends. Diana Ross , Jackie Onassis , Frank Sinatra and others soon numbered among Springer's prominent customers. Springer opened a large showroom in New York City, later also in Miami, Los Angeles and Tokyo. He operated other branches in Munich and Chicago.

His furniture had simple shapes inspired by Art Deco and was made of exotic and luxurious materials. He found inspiration in the interior designers Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann and Jean-Michel Frank . Other influences in his work ranged from the German Bauhaus to the African art of the Ashanti . In the 1970s and 1980s he revived the materials Shagreen (leather from an Asian shark) and Chevreau leather ( goatskin ) , which were last popular in the 1920s and 1930s, in his furniture. He also used lacquered parchment, inlaid wood veneers , rare woods, metals and granite. Craftsmen implemented his designs worldwide. Springer traveled a lot to supervise the workshops and was always on the lookout for new ideas, shapes and materials.

Karl Springer died in 1991 at the age of sixty from an AIDS- related lymph node disease in his Manhattan home. His former assistant, Mark Eckman, bought Karl Springer Ltd in 1994 .

literature

• Karl Springer Ltd. Todd Merrill Studio, 2017

Web links

• Wolfgang Saxon: Karl Springer, 60, a Designer Of Classic and Exotic Furniture. Obituary in: The New York Times, December 6, 1991.
• Karl Springer . Short biography in: Lobel Modern, New York City
• Tom Langevin: Karl Springer Furniture Authentication , illustrated.
• Karl Springer (American, 1931-1991) . In: artnet , illustrated.