Alvar Aalto
Image rights
The artworks in this database are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the rights holders. The artworks are reproduced in this database with a license from Bildupphovsrätt.
For condition report contact specialist
a birch model '403' chair, O.Y. Huonekalu-ja Rakennustyötehdas, Finland mid 20th C. Alva & Gunnar Myrdal Collection.
Height 82 cm, seat height 44 cm.
Wear, minor veneer losses. Reinforced with additional screws.
Provenance
Alva & Gunnar Myrdal Collection. Thence by descent. This chair was used by the Myrdal family to a desk also by Aalto which is now in the collections of the Swedish Nationalmuseum.
More information
Family anecdote:
"This actual chair was an everyday chair used by Alva where she used to sit and write most of her numerous books".
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.
Read more