Ilmari Tapiovaara
Armchair


Gebruder Thonet
Finland / Austria, 1947
lacquered birch, leather
30 h x 21.5 w x 21 d in (76 x 55 x 53 cm)

This design was created for the International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design in 1948 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York and included in Prize Designs for Modern Furniture by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. In the text, Kaufmann writes that of the many Knock-down chairs presented in the competition, Tapiovaara's chair showed the clearest understanding of factory procedures and shipping problems.

Provenance: Private Collection, New York

Exhibited: Ilmari Tapiovaara, Interior Architect, March - June 2001, R20th Century, New York Modern in Your Life: The Good Design Phenomenon 1934-1959, 6 November - 3 January 2019, R & Company, New York

Literature: Ilmari Tapiovaara, Korvenmaa, ppg. 86-87 Ilmari Tapiovaara, Interior Architect, Kane, ed., ppg. 24-25 illustrates this example Scandinavian Design, Fiell, pg. 618

This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.

Fair to good condition. Chair exhibits normal wear from age and use. Wood surfaces show scattered scratches, areas of finish losses, some shallow indentations, and some small chips. Leather upholstery shows some scattered stains, areas of discoloration, some abrasions, and a few small losses concentrated along edges. Some loose joinery is present.