Gilbert Rohde (1894-1944) was the son of a cabinetmaker and born and raised in New York. He is considered one of America’s premier furniture and industrial designers who helped to define American Modernism. Particularly from the late 1920s to WWII as a designer and advisor for Herman Miller Inc. But Herman Miller was not the only company where he initiated modern design. You can include Heywood-Wakefield, the Widdicomb Company, and Troy Sunshade in the list and his early work was sold at Lord and Taylor. Rohde was educated in New York City public schools, but it was a 1927 trip to France and Germany that solidified his future in design and style. He was a designer, a teacher, and a tireless advocate for modern furniture and interiors in American homes, apartments, offices, and commercial and institutional settings. His work was published in design and architecture magazines and newspapers and is held in museums worldwide. According to internet articles “Gilbert Rohde, by focusing on design for mass production, hoped to make modern design the national style of America and to bring modern design to the greatest number of consumers”.