George Kovacs Lamps: A Brief History

With its love for minimalism and emphasis on form and functionality, contemporary lighting is one of the most preferred lighting solutions from decades. Residential or commercial, contemporary lighting never limits itself to a specific design vector and adapts itself to new mindsets and new trends. The focus is always towards minimalism and unlike traditional lighting styles, in contemporary lighting, detail and grandeur is always given the least preference while the size, shape and layout of the lighting fixture is given the highest preference. Though it is difficult to keep up with the newest trends and still bind to the rules of minimalism, there is one lighting manufacturer who has been successful in this domain from decades together. George Kovacs lamps is one of the most revered names in the lighting industry and its founder George Kovacs, one of the most respected and most followed lighting designer and manufacturer. George Kovacs lamps was one of the earliest lighting manufacturers in the US to venture into contemporary lighting and inspire other manufacturers to follow its lead. Here’s a brief history of the company, its founder George Kovacs and few of its iconic lamp designs.

George Kovacs was born in Vienna during the troubled times of World War I. After the war he moved to the United States with his family and started working in a lamp store in Manhattan for J.T. Kalmar, a renowned Austrian lamp manufacturer during those times. After years of experience in the lighting industry and having an upbringing under his second father who was an interior architect, designing lamps came naturally to George Kovacs. And what happened then was history; George Kovacs lamps went on to become the most recommended manufacturer for contemporary and modern lighting in the US. If halogen lamps are seen being manufactured and distributed in the US today, the credit goes to George Kovacs, as he was the first lighting manufacturer in the US to produce lamps made of halogen and inspired countless other manufacturers to follow his lead. George Kovacs lamps is known for many firsts and many remarkable lamp designs that are still in production. Apart from the ‘Halogen Torchiere’, George Kovacs is also known for his iconic ‘Wobble’ and ‘Dumbbell’ lamp designs as these lamps were too bold and too modern for their times.

He also mentored and collaborated with many other famous lighting designers of his time including Ingo Maurer, Robert Sonneman, Karim Rashid, Harry Allen and Alecia Wesner. As a lighting manufacturer George Kovacs was against a brightly lit room and gave a great deal of importance to shadows as well. He believed that there was no fun in lighting a living space as long as a harmony was established between light and shadow. In 2000, he retired by selling the rights of his brand name, George Kovacs lamps to the Minka Group and passed away in 2007, aged 80. Though owned by the Minka Group, George Kovacs lamps still operates under the same name and still specializes in modern and contemporary lighting.

Crescent Harbor Modern com offers an exhaustive collection of modern and contemporary lighting fixtures from leading brands including Maxim, Sonneman, George Kovacs ( crescentharbormodem/ge ), Holtkoetter, Tech, LBL, Corbett Lighting, et2, Crystorama, Varaluz, Besa, DVI and many more.