Red & Blue De Stijl Armchair by Gerrit Rietveld, vintage 1970-80s
About the Item
- Creator:Gerrit Rietveld (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 34.65 in (88 cm)Width: 25.6 in (65 cm)Depth: 31.5 in (80 cm)Seat Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)
- Style:De Stijl (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970-1980
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. A small touch-up with red paint has been done to the upper corner of the back of the seat.
- Seller Location:Vorst, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU7441238396062
Red and Blue Chair
With its geometric composition and primary colors, the Red and Blue armchair has become the definitive symbol of the Dutch De Stijl (“the Style”) movement. The chair’s creator, Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964), was perhaps an unlikely pioneer of this revolutionary aesthetic movement given his traditional path to making furniture. The son of a carpenter in Utrecht, Rietveld left school at age 11 to begin an apprenticeship with his father. Later, he attended night school and worked for a goldsmith. In 1917, Rietveld opened his own furniture workshop.
Although he trained as a cabinetmaker, Rietveld’s interests eventually grew beyond craftsmanship, and he began to focus closely on the intellectual concepts of design. He built objects from minimal materials and believed that a chair could provide more than rest for the body; the greater goal — the one he set for this chair — was to provide for the “well-being and comfort of the spirit.” On the underside of the seat he inscribed, “When I sit, I do not want to sit as my seated flesh likes, but rather as my seated spirit would sit, if it wove the chair for itself.”
Designed in 1918, the original Red and Blue armchair was neither red nor blue — it was made of beechwood. But in its geometric precision, the piece embodied the modernist De Stijl philosophy to achieve postwar harmony through a rigorous aesthetic of pairing basic shapes with a minimal color palette. Rietveld designed the chair using only wood that had been cut in standard, readily available sizes. In doing so, he hoped it would one day be mass produced. This move toward an ethos of industrialization was pure De Stijl, and would later influence movements like Bauhaus and International Style. Writer and architect Theo van Doesburg, who cofounded the movement with the artist Piet Mondrian, featured Rietveld’s chair in De Stijl, the magazine he edited and published that launched alongside the Dutch movement.
It wasn’t until approximately 1923 that Rietveld painted the chair in the colors it is known for today — the colors most frequently associated with Mondrian and De Stijl. In addition to furniture and decorative objects, Rietveld designed 100 buildings throughout his career but only one outside the Netherlands. By far the most important is the Rietveld Schröder House (1924), considered the only house built completely on De Stijl precepts. Cassina manufactures the Red and Blue chair today, and the ingenious simplicity of Rietveld’s construction continues to challenge designers as often as it delights them.
Gerrit Rietveld
Best known for his Red and Blue chair, a modernist icon created using only two plywood plates and 15 connecting bars, Dutch designer Gerrit Thomas Rietveld trained as a cabinetmaker, and his bold vision for furniture was supported by his expertise in construction and craftsmanship.
Born in Utrecht, Rietveld learned goldsmithing in addition to the cabinetry apprenticeship he had in his carpenter father’s workshop. He studied draftsmanship with architect Piet Klaarhamer at the Utrecht Museum of Applied Arts and opened his own furniture workshop in 1917. In the 1930s, Rietveld began to experiment with then-unusual materials like plywood and aluminum, and he pursued intellectual concepts through his design, even considering a seat as a resting place for the body and the soul.
Designed in 1918, the minimalist Red and Blue chair is widely coveted by collectors and gained admirers in the likes of legendary American sculptor and designer Donald Judd over the years. (Examples of Rietveld’s designs can be found in Judd’s restored home-museum in New York City.) The Red and Blue chair is so stunning in its geometric simplicity that it is one of the most important symbols of the Dutch art and design movement of the early 20th century called De Stijl, of which Rietveld was an important part. De Stijl means “the Style” and was an effort to express utopian values through pure abstraction in design and the use of primary colors.
Another example of Rietveld’s celebrated seating furniture is the Zig-Zag chair, which was commissioned by the Dutch department store Metz & Co. and intended to be mass-produced. The resulting design — to which the rights to manufacture were bought by Cassina in 1971 — is the essence of the De Stijl movement and an example of Rietveld’s experiments with jointless chairs made from a single material, wood. The Zig-Zag chair’s armless, legless, elegant form is pure abstraction, yet it is also sturdy and comfortable.
Later in his career, Rietveld worked more often as an architect, designing buildings in prestigious settings like the Venice Biennale. He was a pioneer in more ways than one: The first building he designed, Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht in 1924, is a radically modern space and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
Find vintage Gerrit Rietveld furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Alsemberg, Belgium
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Postmodern Counterweight Desk Lamp by Robert Sonneman, USA 1970-80sBy Robert Sonneman, Sonneman LightingLocated in Vorst, BEIngenious desk lamp with a counterweight mechanism which allows the lamp to be stable in every position. The spheric counterweight is solid steel and heavy enough to point or positio...Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsAluminum, Steel, Stainless Steel, Chrome
- Pair vintage Carlo de Carli Lounge Chairs 802 upholstered in Fendi Casa VelvetBy Carlo De Carli, CassinaLocated in Vorst, BEPair of very elegant vintage Lounge Chairs in the style of Carlo de Carli model ‘802’ chairs. These are very similar to the 802 chair, you have to look very closely to find the differences. The 802 chairs were produced by Cassina. They have been designed by Carlo de Carli in 1960 for the ‘Hotel Parco Dei Principi’ in Sorrento, Italy. Gio Ponti was the architect of the Hotel and a close friend of De Carli. Ponti furnished it with many of his furniture designs and with a few pieces by created by Carlo De Carli. The design is characterised by the dynamic line that runs from the backrest all the way down to the front legs and forms the armrests. The chairs are in restored state. The tappered legs in ebonized walnut wood have been refinished. The chairs have been newly upholstered in high quality velvet by Fendi Casa / Luxury Living Group.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Velvet, Wood
- Wassily B3 armchair by Marcel Breuer, white leather, Italy 1980sBy Marcel BreuerLocated in Vorst, BEWassily armchair designed by Marcel Breuer in 1929, THE Bauhaus classic. Structure in chromed steel tubes, with upholstery in white leather. Vintage, italian edition from the 1980s...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Pernilla Lounge Arm Chair in beech & black canvas by Bruno Mathsson, Sweden 1970By Bruno Mathsson, Dux of SwedenLocated in Vorst, BEPernilla Lounge Arm chair. The seating surface consists of woven webbing slung between a frame of steam-bent beech. This particular chair comes in original black canvas webbing, whi...Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSheepskin, Canvas, Beech
- Vintage Oyster Chair by Pierre Paulin for Artifort, 1960s in Kvadrat UpholsteryBy Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in Vorst, BEVintage Oyster armchair model 157 from the 1960s. Completely new upholstery (new foam and Kvadrat fabric). Very comfortable and in very nice conditi...Category
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Early Egg Chair and Ottoman by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, 1960sBy Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Vorst, BEAn absolute design-icon, the Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen with it’s footstool produced in 1966. Newly reupholstered in European Nappa leather by using the original techniques. This...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- De Stijl Movement Dutch Design Pine CRATE Chair by Gerrit RietveldBy Gerrit RietveldLocated in Oud-Turnhout, VANVintage De Stijl Movement Dutch Design Pine Crate chair by Gerrit Rietveld. Made in the Netherlands, circa 1960. Solid Pine constructed lounge /arm chair. This chair is a testament t...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch De Stijl Lounge Chairs
MaterialsPine
- Red Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld for Cassina, Italy, De Stijl Modern, 1918By Gerrit Rietveld, CassinaLocated in Brooklyn, NYGerrit rietveld Bauhaus red blue chair by Cassina. Early production. Authorized by Rietveld estate. Made in Italy. Labelled and numbered 556. In the red blue chair, Rietveld manipula...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Gerrit Rietveld Red and Blue Lounge Chairs, A PairBy Gerrit Rietveld, CassinaLocated in Garnerville, NYA smart pair of Gerrit Rietveld Red and Blue DeStijl style lounge chairs. Surprisingly comfortable while being so angular. The original was pro...Category
Late 20th Century Unknown De Stijl Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWood, Paint
- Gerrit Rietveld De Stijl Red Blue ChairLocated in New York, NYGerrit Rietveld (Dutch, 1888-1964) De Stijl Red Blue Chair, originally designed in 1918 with red, blue, yellow, and black colors applied in 1923, this e...Category
20th Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsWood, Paint
- Vintage Gerrit Rietveld Style Red Blue De Stijl Wood Chair MCM BauhausBy Gerrit Rietveld, Karl SpringerLocated in Palm Desert, CAVintage Gerrit Rietveld Style Inspired By Piet Mondrian Wood Chair. This was remade by an architect in Wichita Falls, Kansas Signed and dated 09/30/09 With its geometric composition and primary colors, the Red and Blue armchair...Category
Early 2000s American Bauhaus Side Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Vintage Red and Blue Chair by Gerrit RietveldBy Gerrit RietveldLocated in PRAHA 5, CZIconic chair designed by Dutch artist Gerrit Rietveld between 1918 - 1923. This particular piece comes from early 1970's. Manufacturer is unknown however all the joints and overall c...Category
Vintage 1970s Dutch De Stijl Armchairs
MaterialsWood