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Armchair

Marcel Breuer American, born Hungary
1922
Not on view
This chair was conceived during Breuer’s first years at the Bauhaus school in Weimar, and the remarkable design marks the first time he used a cantilevered frame. Its articulated and highly abstract sculptural composition, particularly the intersecting horizontal and vertical planes, attests to the profound influence of the Dutch movement De Stijl, and of the designer Gerrit Rietveld. The chair also represents an important series of collaborations between Breuer and the Bauhaus weaving workshops, led by Gunta Stölzl. The chair’s rigid structure and geometric rationalism is softened somewhat by the lengths of taut woven fabric and the off-set positioning of the wooden supports that allows for a gently sloping seat and reclined back.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Armchair
  • Artist: Marcel Breuer (American (born Hungary), Pécs 1902–1981 New York)
  • Date: 1922
  • Medium: Oak, wool upholstery
  • Dimensions: 37 1/4 × 22 1/4 × 22 5/8 in. (94.6 × 56.5 × 57.5 cm)
  • Classification: Furniture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Theodore R. Gamble Jr. Gift, in honor of his mother, Mrs. Theodore Robert Gamble, and Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust Fund, 1983
  • Object Number: 1983.366
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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"B35" Armchair, Marcel Breuer American, born Hungary, Tubular steel, wood, and canvas
"B35" Armchair
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Gebrüder Thonet GmbH
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"Wassily" Armchair, Marcel Breuer American, born Hungary, Chrome-plated steel, canvas upholstery
"Wassily" Armchair
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1925
Isokon Table
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1936
"Air Line" Armchair, Kem Weber American, born Germany, Wood, Naugahyde
"Air Line" Armchair
Kem Weber
Airline Chair Company (Los Angeles, California)
ca. 1934
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Wallowa Mountains Memory, Variation
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