BENCH CHAIR, 1908
In the following years he designed several pieces of furniture, which were even more simple and sleek. In doing so, he was looking for ‘the new’, as he later described it.
The Bench Chair from 1908 is a design in which all superfluous components were left out. He used cheap pinewood and simple constructions. The backrest consists of a leather belt, fastened with copper nails.
RED-BLUE CHAIR, 1919
In 1919 Rietveld designed the ‘red-blue’ chair, which at the time was created from brown stained wood.
That same year the chair was published in the magazine De Stijl. Rietveld wrote that he wanted to make a piece of furniture that stands freely in the space, where the shape wins over the material and that is easily produce by machines. In the same commentary, Van Doesburg called the chair: “… a slender creature of space (…) unintentional, but unmerciful processing of open spaces”.
Rietveld achieved the spatiality with, among other things, continuous slats and pen-hole connections.
The bevelled, later rectangular side panels disappeared with the versions from 1923 onwards.
In that year he painted the chair in the well-known primary De Stijl colours. That version could be seen in Utrecht at the exhibition ‘The Practical Housewife’. Possibly this exhibition was the direct cause for the colours of the chair. The exhibition interior, designed by Rietveld as a whole, may have led to the chair being matched to the space and in particular to the work of Van der Leck, who worked with primary colours as well.
This slatted armchair, as it was also called, was supplied by Rietveld in many colours, fitting in with the interior and according to the client’s wishes. For example, he made a monochrome red chair for himself and for the writer Til Brugman a completely white version, as part of an interior with colour design by Vilmos Huszár.
For Charley Toorop he made a sea-green and a pink version, both monochrome, and a grey version with yellow edges. Paul Lemon and Peter Alma were given a black chair with white edges.
BERLIN CHAIR, 1923
Originally this asymmetrical chair was designed for a modelling room for the ‘Juryfreie Kunstschau’ in Berlin. This in collaboration with Vilmos Huszár, who made the colour design. At the time, the design was probably only executed as a model.
Later, the chair was designed in both a version with the armrest on the left and as in a mirror image with the armrest on the right.
TUBE-FRAMED (BEUGEL) DINING CHAIR, 1927
This chair was one of the first pieces of furniture Rietveld designed using metal. The chair consists of two curved metal tubes, which form both the legs and the frame, to which a curved sheet of plywood is attached that forms the seat and backrest.
He designed different variations, a higher and lower chair, with and without armrests.
BIRZA CHAIR, 1927
From 1927 Rietveld would frequently design a one-piece chair. This is how the Birza chair, which is made from a single piece of fibre, came into being.
UTRECHT ARMCHAIR, 1935, AND COUCH, 1956
The seat and backrest of this upholstered chair form an angle at that is positioned on the ground to the back of the unit. The front leg and armrest merge into one another and are perpendicular to one another. The benches have the same armrests and a straight or semicircular seat.
ALUMINIUM CHAIR, 1941
In 1941 Rietveld designed the one-piece aluminium chair, a prototype for mechanical production in vulcanised fibre or other materials.
MONDIAL CHAIR, 1958
This chair was designed for the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels. The chair was developed by Gerrit Rietveld together with his son Wim. The seat, legs and back are welded onto one rod. The chair is available with and without armrests.
Industrial production was and is done on a small scale.
STELTMAN CHAIR, 1963
This is the last furniture design by Gerrit Rietveld. The chair was designed for the interior of the Steltman Jeweller’s shop in The Hague, which he rebuilt. Each part of the chair is asymmetrical, but the whole shows itself as a balanced unit. The original design was made in wood with a white (sky)leather upholstery. Two mirror-image chairs, which together form a whole. These stood in front of a counter where wedding rings were selected.
Later versions of this chair were made in solid wood.
