Lot 13: From Villa Vogelwater: a three legged armchair by Berlage

Name: From Villa Vogelwater: a three legged armchair by Berlage
Brand: Adams Amsterdam Auctions
SKU: f1e4f2b8a4
Price: 400 EUR

Est: €800 EUR - €1,200 EURSold:

Adams Amsterdam AuctionsAmsterdam, NetherlandsDecember 03, 2018

Item Overview

Description

- BERLAGE, Hendrik Petrus (Dutch 1856 - 1934) Armchair. Oak, velvet, bias, twisted cord. Three legged chair with connected triangular frame, velvet covered seat and armrests of twisted cords. Cords to be restored/replaced, one end loosened, some wear to the velvet upholstery, frame very good.

Dimensions

Height 87 cm., width 55 cm., seat height 46 cm.

Artist or Maker

Hendrik P. Berlage

Provenance

Collection Elly de Waard; Ladies Van Lunsen, Van der Lee en Knipscheer in Villa Vogelwater, Egmond Binnen; Barend Scheurleer; acquired directly from the artist

Notes

"Turn-of-the-Century Innovation from the Father of Dutch Modernism", a conclusion by Guido J. van den Elshout in his Chairblog*. Our expert doesn't agree, "look at our master paintings," he said", you will see plenty of similar chairs. The only strange thing is, they hardly survived, you don't find them anymore. That should have been the case at the time of Berlage already so maybe he was inspired by the chairs he saw in the Rijksmuseum and departed from there". The "stool" exhibited in the Gemeentemuseum (Berlage Totaal!, 2011) is another example, but the result is incomparable (see link below). What they do have in common is "the absence of embellishment that makes it signature Berlage". The chair must have been designed for the lodge now named Villa Vogelwater that was built by Barend Scheurleer in the dunes in 1891. The house is now best known for Chr. van Geel and Elly de Waard who moved in in 1973 (only nine months before the untimely death of the poet who just lost most of his archive due to fire in his previous home). The couple succeeded the ladies who operated a rest home since 1933. When they closed the house they left the chair that had been there from the day they moved in. But let's listen - at large - to the Happy Hotelier who never misses a chair when there is one. The gentleman expert comments on the chair in the 2011 exhibition: "The Original Three-Legged Chair by Hendrik Petrus Berlage". Here’s an oldie but goodie by a man who was a dead ringer for Sigmund Freud: the 3 legged chair by Hendrik Petrus Berlage was, like Freud, definitely ahead of its time. Inspiration for a number of modern and contemporary designers including Walter Papst and Droog’s Richard Hutten, the piece was recently on display as part of the 75 year anniversary of the Gemeentemuseum (designed by Architect Berlage) at the Hague. But back to Freud. Like that great thinker’s theories of the unconscious—Berlage’s chair begs for a deconstructive approach. The piece dallies in some perspectival gamesmanship: seen from the front, the chair back seems out of all proportion with the seat and legs; but when one looks at it from behind, the back fairly towers over the diminutive seat. Likewise in regards to its triangular construction—this tri-partite execution gives it a slightly unsettling feel. As the eye zips around each of the three sets of three points that constitute base, seat, and back, the mind experiences a slightly dizzying effect, as if, somehow, the chair never ends. Turn-of-the-Century Innovation from the Father of Dutch Modernism Berlage’s 3 legged effort might seem a departure from the bulk of his life’s work. The architect and designer is widely known for bridging the gap between the Traditionalists and the Modernists, principally because he was among the first to reject the notion of decoration for decoration’s sake. He preferred—as did van der Rohe and Le Corbusier—to let the functional elements speak their own aesthetic lexicon. Thus, buildings like the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange showcase the unembellished beauty of pure materials like brick and steel. It is said that Berlage held the same strictures in regards to the furniture he designed for his interiors, believing that they should employ materials “as they actually are,” rather than attempting to conceal structure. In view of this position, the 3 legged chair might seem anomalous because in some ways it lacks the balanced geometry of his architecture. Yet it remains a fine display of this ambitious designer’s synthesis of form and function. Its unorthodox conception might make it appear unsettling, but its palpable materiality, solid construction, and absence of embellishment make it signature Berlage (NB This is a comment on another three legged chair on the unsurpassed Chairblog). *https://chairblog.eu/2011/03/23/chairs-by-hendrik-petrus-berlage-2-3-legged-chair/ (removed, cited from: media.designerpages.com/2011/03/the-original-three-legged-chair-by-hendrik-petrus-berlage/)

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Auction Details

NRC 10 - Fine Art

Adams Amsterdam Auctions

December 03, 2018, 06:30 PM CET

Herengracht 458, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, 1017 CA, NL

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