Mr Lounge Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Thonet, 1970s

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Condition: covering made of cognac-colored core leather. The leather shows a distinct patina. Number stamp on the underside with the … Read more Condition: covering made of cognac-colored core leather. The leather shows a distinct patina. Number stamp on the underside with the production number "20055".
ludwig mies van der rohe was born in aachen in 1886 and is considered one of the most significant architects of the 20th century. He is one of the most important representatives of architectural modernism. Like no one before him, van der rohe succeeded in transferring the spirit of rationality, rooted in the scientific revolution, into the world of architecture.
mies van der rohe began his career with an apprenticeship as a stonemason and draftsman. His extraordinary drawing talent gained him access to renowned architects such as bruno paul and peter behrens, in whose offices he worked at the beginning of the 20th century.
the outbreak of the first world war and the november revolution of 1918 also marked deep turning points for the young architect. Based in berlin by then, mies van der rohe joined avant-garde artist associations such as the novembergruppe (november group) and the zehner ring (ring of ten), which developed new concepts of modern architecture and futuristic design. In 1927, he was significantly involved in the design of the revolutionary model housing estate at weißenhof in stuttgart, parts of which are now a unesco world heritage site.
for this exhibition, he also designed his first groundbreaking tubular steel furniture: the legendary mr collection (including the mr 10 and mr 20 cantilever chairs and the striking mr lounger). Inspired by the material experiments of his bauhaus colleague marcel breuer and the curved shapes of 19th-century iron rocking chairs, mies utilized the resilient potential of bent tubular steel. The elegant furniture pieces, which were created in close partnership with lilly reich and are still produced today, completely redefined modern living comfort. The piece offered here was manufactured by thonet in the 1970s. Thonet produced this model only for a very short period, making the few remaining pieces highly rare today.
this was followed by the commission to design the german pavilion for the 1929 barcelona international exposition. In the course of this work—in close partnership with lilly reich and with the collaboration of sergius ruegenberg—the famous barcelona chair was created. In 1930, van der rohe accepted the appointment as director of the bauhaus in dessau.
with the nazi seizure of power in 1933 and the forced closure of the bauhaus, working conditions for the architect became increasingly difficult. In 1938, he accepted a call to the armour institute (now the illinois institute of technology) in chicago. He immigrated to the usa and began his academic teaching career there—curiously without ever having completed a classical architecture degree himself. Furthermore, he was responsible as an independent architect for numerous groundbreaking projects in the usa, including crown hall in chicago and the seagram building in new york.
in the early 1960s, he returned virtually to germany one last time for a late masterpiece: mies van der rohe accepted the commission from the west berlin senate to plan the neue nationalgalerie (new national gallery). However, due to health reasons, he was no longer able to attend the grand opening in 1968. Suffering from esophageal cancer, the architect passed away in chicago in 1969. This piece has an attribution mark,
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