Klaus Grabe chaise longue, USA

A Klaus Grabe chaise longue, made of plywood with a light green canvas webbed upholstery.

Bauhaus trained Klaus Grabe left Germany in the 1930s for Mexico. Here Grabe worked together with fellow Bauhaus student Michael van Beuren and Morley Webb. This team was part of the MoMA Organic Design in Home Furnishings Competition and exhibition in 1941, their winning entry was a similar chaise with leather webbing. Later in the 1940s, Grabe moved to New York where he started his own company. His designs in the 1950s were based on the new material plywood and were marketed as 'prefab kits' to be assembled by the owners to keep the purchase price down.