The Pollock Executive Chair was created in 1963 and became not only a creation of fascination for many in the furniture design world, it also became a big seller – indeed, it is still available at KnollStudio. In an article, Helling described how impressed he was with the chair when starting out as a designer, which 20 years later subsequently motivated him to see if he could find out what happened to its designer.

He eventually traced him to New York and learned how Pollock had left the design field in the early 1980s after a company he had designed a chair for had hit financial difficulties and could not produce his work. Since then, Pollock had turned his considerable talents to painting and sculpting, seemingly with few in the design world knowing of his whereabouts. Indeed, according to reports, he was apparently thought by many to be dead.

The outcome of the Bernhardt-Pollock meeting saw an agreement to collaborate, the result of which is the 81-year-old Pollock’s CP lounge chair, launched at New York’s 24th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair, which runs between May 19th and 22nd. What is clear from its design is that, though Pollock cannot claim be the most prolific furniture designer, his creations are well worth the wait.

See the chair on the Bernhardt Design website
Visit the International Contemporary Furniture Fair online