Controversy
In recent years it has become known that many of the designs George Nelson accepted credit for were actually the work of other designers employed at his studios. Examples of this include the Marshmallow sofa, which was actually designed by Irving Harper, and the Action Office, for which Nelson won the prestigious Alcoa Award, neglecting to mention that it was largely designed by Robert Propst. John Pile, a designer who worked for Nelson in the 1950s, commented about this practice; "George's attitude was that it was okay for individual designers to be given credit in trade publications, but for the consumer world, the credit should always be to the firm, not the individual. He didn't always follow through on that policy though."
In an interview in Metropolis in 2001, Irving Harper also commented on this practice: "...there always had to be one name associated with the work. We couldn't just spread it around… that's fine. I'm grateful to George for what he did for me. While he was alive, I made no demands whatsoever, but now that he's gone, whenever the Marshmallow Sofa is referred to as a 'George Nelson design', it sort of gets to me. I don't go out of my way to set things right, but if anybody asks me who designed it, I'm perfectly happy to tell them."
Read more about this topic: George Nelson (designer)
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