Lot Essay
According to one of the childeren of Piet Zwart, the chairs were executed by a local carpenter in Wassenaar.
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FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANTIQUARIAN VLOEMANS, THE HAGUE
PIET ZWART
Dutch designer Piet Zwart (1885-1977) made life easier for millions of homemakers with his iconic Bruynzeel kitchen, but sculpted other areas of everyday life in 20th century Holland as well. As a typographer and graphic artist, he created the face of the Dutch telephone and cable companies, also putting his technical training to good use producing furniture, glass dinner services an street lightings. Zwart, who typically would not put out his own lights before three o'clock in the morning and preferred his desk to any form of leisure, died at the age of 92 and was proclaimed 'Designer of the Century' by the Association of Dutch Designers in 2000.
Zwart was educated (1902-1907) at the School of Applied Arts in Amsterdam, where he enjoyed as much freedom as any creative person could wish for, or as he later recalled: "A smashing school with no idea of a programme". After leaving the institute, he ventured into a lot of activities such as teaching, designing children clothings, tea cosies and wallpapers and taking classes at the Delft Institute of Technology.
After the first world war, Zwart fully rode the revolutionary wave that swept across Europe. Leaving behind the more traditional fashion of Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement, he was drawn to the radical Stijl theories of Gerrit Rietveld, Theo van Doesburg and Vilmos Huszàr that promoted an almost utopian world of idealised functionalism and industrialism. He took a job as draftsman for the architect Jan Wils, also a member of the De Stijl-group, for whom he did his first typographic work when he was asked to design stationery for the office.
Two years later, he transferred to the office of influential Dutch architect H.P. Berlage, who in 1923 would introduce him to one of his relatives who was manager of the Nederlandsche Kabelfabriek (Dutch Cable Factory). The two men got along very well, and over the next decade Zwart made hundreds of revolutionary advertisements and brochures, from 1927 operating as an independent designer. He vigourously experimented with, and built upon, the principles of De Stijl with primary colors, geometrical shapes, repeated word patterns and photomontage.
From 1930 onwards, the Bruynzeel woodworks company proved to be another quintessential employer to Zwart. First hired to design the annual calendar for the firm that produced doors, floors and pencils, he was asked to also mastermind their first kitchen. The result, realised in 1937, was an instant classic, consisting of standardized elements that could be combined to the liking of every individual customer. That year, he also made the almost equally famous Book of PTT which explained to schoolchildren how to use the services of Dutch Post, Telephone and Telegraphe Company (PTT).
Christie's now offers yet another product from, arguably, Zwarts most fruitful year. In 1937, a new primary school opened in the small town of Wassenaar, for which Zwart exclusively designed a childrens' chair based on an 1920 design he did with Vilmos Huszàr. Out of a production of 40, Zwart kept four at home to seat his own children. These four chairs would be the only ones to make it into our day, as the school was completely destroyed in WW II. One chair is in the collection of the Haags Gemeentemuseum, the second is in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, another remains in private hands while this catalogue offers the fourth and final survivor. With a 1998 limited re-issue of 50 sold out, this is a rare chance to acquire an original work by one of the giants of Dutch Design.
A DUTCH BEECHWOOD AND ALUMINIUM CHILD'S CHAIR
DESIGNED BY PIET ZWART (1885-1977), CIRCA 1937
Details
A DUTCH BEECHWOOD AND ALUMINIUM CHILD'S CHAIR
DESIGNED BY PIET ZWART (1885-1977), CIRCA 1937
Constructed from seven planks and an aluminium joint
65 cm. high x 32.5 cm. wide x 34.8 cm. deep
Together with two books: Y. Brentjes, Piet Zwart 1885-1977. Vormingenieur, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag & Waanders, Zwolle, 2008 and A. Vegesack, Kid size. The material World of Childhood, Milan, Skira & Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, 1997, p. 290. (3)
DESIGNED BY PIET ZWART (1885-1977), CIRCA 1937
Constructed from seven planks and an aluminium joint
65 cm. high x 32.5 cm. wide x 34.8 cm. deep
Together with two books: Y. Brentjes, Piet Zwart 1885-1977. Vormingenieur, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag & Waanders, Zwolle, 2008 and A. Vegesack, Kid size. The material World of Childhood, Milan, Skira & Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, 1997, p. 290. (3)
Provenance
Acquired directly from the Estate of Piet Zwart by the present owner in 1989.
Literature
COMPARABLE LITERATURE:
Y. Brentjes, Piet Zwart 1885-1977. Vormingenieur, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag Waanders, Zwolle, 2008, p. 82, pp. 262-265 with an illustration of the similar chair in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.
Y. Brentjes, Piet Zwart 1885-1977. Vormingenieur, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag Waanders, Zwolle, 2008, p. 82, pp. 262-265 with an illustration of the similar chair in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.
Exhibited
Kunsthal Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 28 June 1997- 28 September 1997, exhibition catalogue nr. 5.1 with illustration.
Further details
VARIOUS PROPERTIES
Brought to you by
Nicole Verkade-Schraven