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"39" Chaise Longue

Alvar Aalto Finnish
Manufacturer Artek Oy Finnish
1936–37
Not on view
Initially, Aalto worked as an exhibition designer, turning to architecture and furniture design in the 1920s. In 1929 he and a partner established an experimental plywood workshop in Turku, Finland and by 1935 founded Artek, a furniture design and manufacturing company. The form of this chaise is based on Aalto's breakthrough design of the mid-1930s, the "spring leaf support" (a compression spring of birch veneers welded together). This inventive cantilevered frame with the springing characteristics of its material also provides comfortable seating.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "39" Chaise Longue
  • Artist: Alvar Aalto (Finnish, Kuortane 1898–1976 Helsinki)
  • Manufacturer: Artek Oy
  • Date: 1936–37
  • Medium: Molded birch plywood and cotton webbing
  • Dimensions: 28 7/8 × 24 1/4 × 62 in., 26 lb. (73.3 × 61.6 × 157.5 cm, 11.8 kg)
    Other (seat): 10 5/8 in. (27 cm)
  • Classification: Furniture-Wood
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Theodore R. Gamble Jr. Gift, in honor of his mother, Mrs. Theodore Robert Gamble, 1985
  • Object Number: 1985.211
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

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"#400" Armchair, Alvar Aalto Finnish, Bent and laminated wood, cotton upholstery (replaced)
"#400" Armchair
Alvar Aalto
Artek Oy
1935–36
"31" Armchair, Alvar Aalto Finnish, Laminated and painted birch plywood and bentwood
"31" Armchair
Alvar Aalto
Artek Oy
1931–32
"Model No. 41" Lounge Chair, Alvar Aalto Finnish, Laminated Birch
"Model No. 41" Lounge Chair
Alvar Aalto
Oy. Huonekalu-Ja Rakennustyötehdas AB
1931–32
Savoy
Alvar Aalto
Iittala Lasitehdas Oy
designed 1936, manufactured 1960–61
Dish, Tapio Wirkkala Finnish, Plywood
Dish
Tapio Wirkkala
1951

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