$90,000
Steelcase Furniture Company USA, c.
1938 cast and enameled aluminum, upholstery, brass 17½ w x 20 d x 33 h in (44 x 51 x 84 cm)
From the mid 1930s through the early 1940’s, Frank Lloyd Wright created some of the most noteworthy commissions of his career, reestablishing him at the vanguard of American architecture. Several buildings from this period, including the Johnson Wax Administration Building (1936) and the Guggenheim Museum in New York (1943) illustrate a period in his designs dominated by the circle. The Johnson Wax building is a revolutionary design for an office space, and "as inspiring a place to work in as any cathedral ever was in which to worship." The space was outfitted with the first metal office furniture drawn by Wright since the Larkin Building (1905). Within the illuminated space, Wright designed this organically inspired furniture, complimenting the curvilinear motif of the floor plan. In the design, a circle is doubled, acting as the seat and backrest of the chair, supported by parallel rows of semicircular ribs creating an expressive and rigid frame. literature: Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph 1924-1936, Pfeiffer, pg. 387 illustrates this model in situ
print
Auctioneer:
Wright Auctions
Date:
2005-12-04
