Armchair for Til Brugman, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, c. 1919
Around 1919, Rietveld designed his most famous piece of furniture: a slatted armchair that he would later paint red and blue. The first version in uncoloured wood was illustrated in the magazine De Stijl. Its transverse slats are a distinctive feature. The purity of this construction appealed to many architects and artists, who were among Rietveld’s first clients. This chair was ordered by the writer Til Brugman in the spring of 1923.