Spurred by architect Marcel Breuer’s comment that he could not find a single well-designed floor or table lamp for his Exhibition House at the Museum of Modern Art in 1949, MoMA sponsored a lighting design competition the following year, with works by fifteen of the winners included in a "New Lamps" exhibition from March to June, 1951. In collaboration with MoMA, the manufacturer Yasha Heifetz co-sponsored this national competition, and then put ten of the prize-winning lamps into production. A.W. and Marion Geller’s entry was one of the lamps that were then sold at progressive design stores throughout the country.
As the 1951 MoMA press release explained: "The 8 table lamps and 2 floor lamps, manufactured by The Heifetz Company, were selected from entries from 43 states of more than 600 competitors, whose designs show a trend toward lightness of appearance, unusual flexibility in the control of light, and multiplicity of use. The prize-winning designs, selected by the Jury from a most gratifying variety of ideas, represent for the most part the work of young, relatively unknown designers, many of whom were GIs. In addition to their prize money, the competitors whose winning designs are being manufactured receive a royalty on sales." The press release specifically discussed this lamp, noting that "A.W. and Marion Geller, New York architects and designers, were awarded an honorable mention for their floor lamp for reading."
Wendy Kaplan, Curator and Department Head
