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LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD
LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE...
LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE
AN EARLY BARCELONA CHAIR,
MODEL "MR 90," CA. 1930
designed 1929, manufactured by Berliner Metallgewerbe Joseph Muller, Berlin-Neukolln
flat steel, hand-forged and welded, traces of the original lacquer coating; eight replaced and nine original textile straps
30 1/8 x 26 x 32 3/4 in.
(75.5 x 66 x 83.3 cm) <P>ESTIMATE: $40,000-60,000 <P>PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Germany <P>ILLUSTRATED
Torsten Brohan and Thomas Berg, DESIGN CLASSICS, 1880-1930, Cologne, 2001, cover <P>LITERATURE
Derek F. Ostergard, ed., BENT WOOD AND METAL FURNITURE, 1850-1946, Seattle, 1987, pp. 291-293 (for an early chrome version, ca. 1931)
Ludwig Glaser, LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE: FURNITURE AND FURNITURE DRAWINGS FROM THE DESIGN COLLECTION AND MIES VAN DER ROHE ARCHIVE, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1977, pp. 47-48 <p>Mies van der Rohe was one of the most important theorists of the Bauhaus and was the director thereof from 1930 until the closing in 1933. In 1929 he started his work for the design of the German pavilion at the International Exhibition, Barcelona 1929. In his architectonic conceptional synthesis, a pair of chairs were placed at a right angle to the onyx wall. Obviously, they were meant for Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenie, whose reign was in danger. The pavilion was completely dismantled after the exhibition and sent back to Germany. This model was thereafter known as the "Barcelona Chair." Even 68 years after its design, it is still in production, although the production methods have changed since that time. It is not only one of the most convincing symbols of Bauhaus design; it is also, perhaps, the most famous, the most used and most popular chair of the 20th century. <p>This particular chair was produced by the Berliner Metallgewerbe Joseph Muller, a small contemporary locksmith shop. The technical director of this firm started his own company in 1931 in Berlin under the name Bamberg Metallwerkstatten. The "Barcelona Chair," just as many other Mies models, was produced in yellow, red and blue varnishes, as well as nickel- and chromium-plated versions. <p>The lot offered here appears to be an early piece. In the beginning, only one model of this design was known: the piece from the collection of the Bauhaus Dessau, which was shown at the exhibition of the Central Institute for Art History Munich, "Im Brennpunkt der Moderne, Mies van der Rohes Haus Tugendhat," from October 2-November 29, 1998. <p>Two other models from the same <P>PROVENANCE have appeared. One is the lot offered here, and the other is in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York.
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