Set of Two Distressed Alvar Aalto 68 Chairs
View Similar Items
Set of Two Distressed Alvar Aalto 68 Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Alvar Aalto (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 27.56 in (70 cm)Width: 14.77 in (37.5 cm)Depth: 14.77 in (37.5 cm)Seat Height: 17.13 in (43.5 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1950
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor fading.
- Seller Location:Amsterdam, NL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU236738736633
Alvar Aalto
An architect and designer, Alvar Aalto deserves an immense share of the credit for bringing Scandinavian modernism to a prominent place in the global arena. In both his buildings and in his vintage furniture — which ranges from chairs, tables and lighting to table- and glassware — Aalto’s sensitivity to the natural world and to organic forms and materials tempered the hardness of rationalist design.
Relatively few Aalto buildings exist outside Finland. (Just four exist in the United States, and only one — the sinuous 1945 Baker House dormitory at M.I.T. — is easily visited.) International attention came to Aalto, whose surname translates to English as “wave,” primarily through his furnishings.
Instead of the tubular metal framing favored by the Bauhaus designers and Le Corbusier, Aalto insisted on wood. His aesthetic is best represented by the Paimio armchair, developed in 1930 as part of his overall design of a Finnish tuberculosis sanatorium. Comfortable, yet light enough to be easily moved by patients, the chair’s frame is composed of two laminated birch loops; the seat and back are formed from a single sheet of plywood that scrolls under at the headrest and beneath the knees, creating a sort of pillow effect. Aalto’s use of plywood had enormous influence on Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer and others who later came to the material.
Concerned with keeping up standards of quality in the production of his designs, Aalto formed the still-extant company Artek in 1935, along with his wife, Aino Aalto, whose glass designs were made by the firm. In the latter medium, in 1936 the Aaltos together created the iconic, undulating Savoy vase, so-called for the luxe Helsinki restaurant for which the piece was designed.
Artek also produced Aalto pendants and other lighting designs, many of which — such as the Angel’s Wing floor lamp and the Beehive pendant — incorporate a signature Aalto detail: shades made of concentric enameled-metal rings graduated down in diameter. The effect of the technique is essential Alvar Aalto: at once precise, simple, and somehow poetic.
Find a collection of vintage Alvar Aalto stools, vases, dining tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- alvar aalto chair68 Painted White 1950'sBy Alvar AaltoLocated in 東御市, JPDesigned by Alvar Aalto. This is chair 68 . White paint is applied all over. This chair was manufactured in the 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s Finnish Modern Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- Paimio Chair by Alvar AaltoBy Alvar AaltoLocated in Long Island City, NYPaimio Chair by Alvar Aalto, an authentic edition, chair #41, designed in 1941 by Alvar Aalto for Artek of Finland. A tour de force in bent...Category
20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsBentwood, Plywood
$10,250 - Alvar Aalto Rare Set of Early Armchairs, 1939By Alvar AaltoLocated in Helsinki, FIExceptionally rare set of early Alvar Aalto armchairs for O.Y Wilhelm Schauman A.B Jyväskylä, Finland, 1939. Custom ordered for NY World's Fair Restau...Category
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBirch, Plywood
$13,677 Sale Price / set30% Off - Set of 2 First Edition Alvar Aalto 402 Chairs for Finmar, 1930sBy Alvar Aalto, FinmarLocated in amstelveen, NL402 Chair, Alvar Aalto, Finmar, 1933 The 402 armchair was designed by Alvar Aalto in 1933. Aalto was a famous architect and one of the most influential...Category
Vintage 1930s European Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- Pair of Vintage Model 65 Chairs by Alvar AaltoBy Alvar Aalto, ArtekLocated in Cape Town, WCModel 65 encapsulates designer Alvar Aalto’s approach to systematic, rational design within the context of Finnish minimalism; showcasing clean lines and his favoured use of birchwoo...Category
Vintage 1940s European Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsBirch
$1,400 / set - Alvar Aalto "Chair of Our Times", a Collector's GemBy Huonekalu-Ja Rakennustyötedas Oy, Alvar AaltoLocated in Helsinki, FIThis minimalist functionalist chair known as "The product of our time", is a rare gem and is the first chair born of the Alvar Aalto - Otto Korhone...Category
Vintage 1920s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsBirch, Lacquer
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The Very Modern Love Story of Mid-Century Design Duo Alvar and Aino Aalto
A power couple before the term existed, the influential pair made work that still resonates today.
What Makes Scandinavian Modernism and Nordic Design So Irresistible?
Andrew Duncanson, founder of the Stockholm- and London-based gallery Modernity, weighs in on the masters of mid-century furniture and decorative arts.