Probber, a design autodidact in a profession largely dominated by formal architectural training, began his creative career at age 16 when he designed a sofa. Eventually, he established a workshop, Harvey Probber Inc., in Brooklyn, later moving his operations to Massachusetts.

An astute observer, Probber realized that the nature of post-WWII American indoor life had fundamentally changed: rooms no longer had strictly assigned functions, and the new open plan interior demanded frurnishings of greater flexibility. Probber, with his finger on the pulse of the times, responded in 1944 with the invention of modular seating; no mean accomplishment for one not given to academic posturing.

Despite his lack of formal training, Probber lead an active and original creative life, as displayed through his renderings of interiors, and the witty caricatures he drew throughout his life of "chairs as people," which served to keep his creative mind in shape. Page 2 >