Alvar Aalto
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a partly black lacquered birch "Paimio" chair by O.y Huonekalu-ja Rakennustyötehdas A.B for Artek, Finland 1930-40's.
Black lacquered frame of laminated birch, three solid
wooden bars. Height 64 cm.
Black parts re-lacquered.
Provenance
This chair was acquired in the Swedish city Skellefteå in the 1930-40's. Reportedly the buying price was 5 SEK at the time.
Literature
Red. Thomas Kellein, "Alvar & Aino Aalto. Design. Collection Bischofberger", Hatje Cantz Verlag, Germany 2004. The model in this colouring depicted on the cover of the book and on page 41.
Designer
Alvar Aalto is one of Finland's most prominent architects and designers and one of Scandinavia's biggest proponents of modern architecture and design. Several of the furniture and vases he designed are today considered iconic design classics, including the Savoy vases, the Beehive lamp, and Armchair, model '31'.Alvar Aalto is the most internationally famous Finnish architect and designer. Aalto was a great ambassador for Finnish design at a time when the Finnish people were thinking about how to present themselves to the rest of the world. He gave equal weight to form and function, and was inspired by the Finnish landscape. Aalto is one of the most important representatives of modern architecture and has created its own architecture direction, whose aesthetic effect is based on careful planning of the buildings in relation to the environment, a human dimension and good sense of material.
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