Richard Kagan, Woodworking: 1970 - 1987

Prior to his photography career, Richard Kagan was a furniture maker.  He started in New York City before apprenticing with Gino Russo, a 12th generation woodworker originally from Italy.  Subsequently, Kagan was hired as the shop supervisor by Daniel Jackson at Philadelphia College of Art (University of the Arts), where he later taught Woodworking and Furniture Design for 10 years.  In 1972, Kagan opened his own workshop on South Street in Philadelphia where he designed and made one-of-a-kind and limited production furniture using domestic and exotic hardwoods from around the world.  The following year, he opened the Richard Kagan Gallery as an exhibition space.  

Richard Kagan’s furniture has been shown in museums and art institutions throughout the U.S. and is represented in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  A back injury in 1982 severely limited his output and ultimately cut short his career with the closing of his shop in 1987.  The next year Kagan went back to school to pursue an earlier love, photography. 



• Furniture PHOTOS •

This is but a sampling of Richard Kagan's furniture. Time was short and much of the work was never photographed.


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• Furniture RESUME •





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• Furniture ARTICLES •

Includes articles about Richard Kagan as well as the woodworkers who exhibited at the Richard Kagan Gallery


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Richard Kagan Gallery: 1973 - 1983

Opened in 1973, the Richard Kagan Gallery was the first gallery in the United States to exhibit and represent nationally prominent woodworkers, in addition to the furniture of its founder.  The gallery operated in the South Street section of Philadelphia for 10 years with exhibitions of museum quality furniture.  Among the craftsmen represented were:  Wendell Castle, Jere Osgood, Daniel Jackson, Alphonse Mattia, Bob Stocksdale, Jon Brooks, William Keyser, David Ellsworth, Thom Hucker, Silas Kopf, Michael Hurwitz and Howard Werner.


List of Exhibitions:


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