Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown - Design New York Thursday, June 9, 2016 | Phillips

Design

New York Auction 9 June 2016 

  • Provenance

    Private collection, acquired in the 1980s

  • Literature

    David A. Hanks, Anne Hoy and Martin Eidelberg, Design for Living: Furniture and Lighting 1950-2000, The Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection, exh. cat., Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, 2000, p. 166
    David B. Brownlee, David G. DeLong, and Kathryn B. Hiesinger, Out of the Ordinary: Robert Venturi Denise Scott Brown and Associates: Architecture, Urbanism, Design, exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art, New Haven, 2001, p. 210, fig. 338

  • Catalogue Essay

    Originally conceptualized in 1978, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown introduced their line of chairs based on historical styles in May 1984. Production at Knoll peaked in the mid-1980s, and though critically well-received, they were not a commercial success at the time. A few of the models were reintroduced in a lighter proportion in Japan in 1991. According to Dr. Kathryn B. Hiesinger, in her essay in Out of the Ordinary: Robert Venturi Denise Scott Brown and Associates: Architecture, Urbanism, Design, of the nine chairs, the Hepplewhite, Biedermeier, Gothic Revival and Art Nouveau chairs were available only through special order.

Property from a Private Collection, New York

68

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown

Rare red “Hepplewhite” chair

1978-1984
Laminated bent-plywood.
34 1/2 x 23 1/8 x 23 1/4 in. (87.6 x 58.7 x 59.1 cm)
Manufactured by Knoll International, New York, USA.

Estimate
$4,000 - 6,000 

Sold for $5,000

Contact Specialist
Design New York
+1 212 940 1268

Design

New York Auction 9 June 2016