GERRIT THOMAS RIETVELD (1888-1964)

This particular model was one of Rietveld’s earliest designs incorporating the principle of protruding posts and rails. Furniture designed during this early stage, most notably his Rood Blauwe Stoel, or Red and Blue, reflected his desire to keep each aspect of an object’s composition simple. His intent was to create an object where no one part was too dominant or subordinate to another, resulting in a design that occupies space clearly and freely as a single entity. This chair model was initially designed in 1919 with various later versions including one without side panels and another with a leather backrest. This particular example was acquired from Gerard A. van de Groenekan, Rietveld's primary cabinet worker in his Utrecht furniture shop, during the mid-1970s.

cf. M. Friedman, ed., Visions of Utopia, New York, 1982, pp. 127, 206;
M. Küper, Gerrit Rietveld, Utrecht, 1992, pp.77-79, 87;
P. Vöge, The Complete Rietveld Furniture, Rotterdam, 1993, p. 53;
L. D. Delfini, The Furniture Collection: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, 2004, p. 296;
V. Guillaume, De Stijl 1917-1931, Paris, 2010, pp. 138, 140.