Gerrit Rietveldβs Red-Blue Chair is an absolute icon of modern design, radical and unprecedented in its articulation of every component and the integration of space as a means of design. But its actual dating has never been precisely determined, mainly due to Rietveldβs fragmentary recollection: accordingly a variety of years can be found in the literature, ranging from as early as 1916 to 1919. This inaccuracy as well as the desire to clarify the whereabouts of the early examples of the chair drove Marijke Kuper to long-term research project that resulted in the present book and accompanying documentary: βDe stoel van Rietveld/Rietveldβs Chairβ published by NAi010 Publishers in 2012 contains both a comprehensive exploration of the iconic chair and a fascinating film by about the importance of the chair and its manufacturing process by Lex Reitsma. Marijke Kuper begins her book with a brief outline of Rietveldβs life and career before the chair but quickly moves to her convincing approximation of the real year of design: according to her research Rietveld designed it in 1919 since no credible record exists before this year.
In the following Kuper in detail elucidates the construction and differing dimensions of the early chairs before focusing on the manifold color (and uncolored) variants of the Red-Blue Chair: since the chair was mainly produced for friends, colleagues and other progressive individuals there were many variants tailored to the interior they would later grace.
Strangely, as Kuper demonstrates in her reception history of the chair, it was met with much less awe than one might expect given its novelty. Instead many contemporaries viewed it as a curiosity not to be taken too seriously. Only after WWII and an increased retrospective interest in De Stijl did the Red-Blue Chair become the icon it is today. This status is also the guiding thread in Lex Reitsmaβs documentary: proceeding from a 2007 auction where an early white version of the chair was sold for a record-setting β¬264,000 the camera follows Marijke Kuper to collectors and former owners as well as it documents the manufacturing process of the chair. Definitely a must-see/read!
