Design for furniture display
Design
1938-1940 (drawn)
1938-1940 (drawn)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Dutch architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964) started work in his father’s furniture workshop at the age of 12. In 1917 Rietveld set up a furniture workshop in Utrecht which allowed him to make furniture according to his own judgement and taste. In 1918 he designed an unpainted armchair, of which he produced a coloured version in red, blue, yellow and black probably not before 1923. Known as the ‘Red–Blue’ chair, it brought him international fame.
Rietveld became affiliated with Functionalist architecture and participated in the Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM). From the late 1920s and during the 1930s he concentrated on designing mass-produced furniture and architecture. He executed a number of shop renovations for the Dutch company Metz & Co., who between 1930 and 1955 produced his furniture, including various models of the ‘Zig-zag’ chair and the so-called ‘Crate’ furniture.
In this design for a showroom display in Amsterdam, Rietveld displays his interpretation of space; use of levels and furniture groupings define the space, and the boundary between internal and external space is blurred by the large glass shop-window.
Rietveld became affiliated with Functionalist architecture and participated in the Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM). From the late 1920s and during the 1930s he concentrated on designing mass-produced furniture and architecture. He executed a number of shop renovations for the Dutch company Metz & Co., who between 1930 and 1955 produced his furniture, including various models of the ‘Zig-zag’ chair and the so-called ‘Crate’ furniture.
In this design for a showroom display in Amsterdam, Rietveld displays his interpretation of space; use of levels and furniture groupings define the space, and the boundary between internal and external space is blurred by the large glass shop-window.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Design for furniture display (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Pencil, pen and ink, and green ink on paper |
Brief description | Drawing by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, design for furniture display in Amsterdam showroom of Metz & Co., pencil and pen and ink, Netherlands, ca. 1938 |
Physical description | Design drawing for shop window display for Metz & Co., Amsterdam. The sheet is divided by a square grid drawn in pencil which could be an indication of the shop window, with an entrance indicated towards the right. The drawing shows a dining table with seven 'Zig-Zag' chairs; a sideboard; a sculpture; planters along the walls; two 'Zig-Zag' armchairs and a table; a painting; a screen or a door; and a patterned rug. All the objects are labelled in pencil by the designer. The outlines of the objects are drawn over in green ink and a grid-like floor covering the entire shop floor is also drawn in green ink. The back of the sheet has a letter in Rietveld's writing; ink with a few light pencil sketches; signed by the designer. |
Dimensions |
|
Style | |
Production type | Design |
Marks and inscriptions | 'schilderij; [feelijt]; dressoir; plantjs; plastiek; entrie; tegel; tafel; [ruan] of deure' (indicated next to the objects in the sketch; pencil)
|
Gallery label | Gerrit Thomas Rietveld
(1888-1964)
First sketch for a shop window
display. 1940
Pencil, pen and ink on the back of a
draft of a letter to the sculptor
Bijerman.
Rietveld combined the roles of an architect
and furniture designer and manufacturer.
He is best known in Britain for the
uncompromising modernity and starkness
of his designs, notably the Red Blue Chair
(1917), the Crate Chair (1934) and the Zig
Zag chair (1934). The latter are clearly visible
in the design, which Rietveld was preparing
for the furniture manufactuers and retailers
Metz & Co. in Amsterdam. To make the
display more domestic looking, Rietveld
asked Bijerman the sculptor if he could
borrow a dolphin sculpture (visible in the
right hand lower corner of the design.) This
request is in the draft letter on the back of
the sheet.
E.1764-1991 |
Historical context | Rietveld executed a number of shop renovations for the Dutch company Metz & Co., who between 1930 and 1955 produced his furniture including various models of the ‘Zig-zag’ chair and the so-called ‘Crate’ furniture (Kratmeubel; e.g. Amsterdam, Stedel. Mus.). |
Production | Reason For Production: Commission |
Subjects depicted | |
Place depicted | |
Association | |
Summary | Dutch architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964) started work in his father’s furniture workshop at the age of 12. In 1917 Rietveld set up a furniture workshop in Utrecht which allowed him to make furniture according to his own judgement and taste. In 1918 he designed an unpainted armchair, of which he produced a coloured version in red, blue, yellow and black probably not before 1923. Known as the ‘Red–Blue’ chair, it brought him international fame. Rietveld became affiliated with Functionalist architecture and participated in the Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM). From the late 1920s and during the 1930s he concentrated on designing mass-produced furniture and architecture. He executed a number of shop renovations for the Dutch company Metz & Co., who between 1930 and 1955 produced his furniture, including various models of the ‘Zig-zag’ chair and the so-called ‘Crate’ furniture. In this design for a showroom display in Amsterdam, Rietveld displays his interpretation of space; use of levels and furniture groupings define the space, and the boundary between internal and external space is blurred by the large glass shop-window. |
Bibliographic references |
|
Collection | |
Accession number | E.1764-1991 |
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Record created | September 29, 2005 |
Record URL |
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