- Product:
- Seat
- Manufacturer:
- Christie`s
- Architonic ID:
- 4102508
- Country:
- United Kingdom
- Category:
- Furnishings
- Address
- Telephone
- Website
Key facts
Product description
Designed circa 1929, stained and painted pine.
231⁄2in. (59.5cm.) height, 261⁄2in. (67.5cm.) width, 171⁄2in. (45cm.) depth
One of the leading exponents of the Italian Futurist movement, Giacomo Balla's expression was not confined solely to the fine arts, but was instead manifest in all aspects of the applied arts, from textile and costume design to interior decoration.
Balla is documented as having designed several furniture models, the earliest dating from 1904, however all exhibited a striking marriage of geometric 'compenetrazioni iridescenti' colour and pattern with a bold and rigorous physical simplicity. Balla himself made at least two chairs of this design, one with shaded red diagonal stripes which he retained in his home, the eccentrically-decorated Casa Balla, and this example featuring blue stripes, which Balla gave to his friend, the painter Antonio Amore, in the early 1950s.
Lit: Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, Casa Balla, Marsilio, p. 31, (the red-painted version illustrated);
Irene de Guttry, Le Arte Minori d'Autore in Italia dal 1900 al 1930, Laterza, 1985, pl. 14 (the red-painted version illustrated);
Roberto Ripa, L'Opera di Antonio Amore, Editrice Salvure, p. 223 (description of Balla's gift to Amore of the chair)
231⁄2in. (59.5cm.) height, 261⁄2in. (67.5cm.) width, 171⁄2in. (45cm.) depth
One of the leading exponents of the Italian Futurist movement, Giacomo Balla's expression was not confined solely to the fine arts, but was instead manifest in all aspects of the applied arts, from textile and costume design to interior decoration.
Balla is documented as having designed several furniture models, the earliest dating from 1904, however all exhibited a striking marriage of geometric 'compenetrazioni iridescenti' colour and pattern with a bold and rigorous physical simplicity. Balla himself made at least two chairs of this design, one with shaded red diagonal stripes which he retained in his home, the eccentrically-decorated Casa Balla, and this example featuring blue stripes, which Balla gave to his friend, the painter Antonio Amore, in the early 1950s.
Lit: Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, Casa Balla, Marsilio, p. 31, (the red-painted version illustrated);
Irene de Guttry, Le Arte Minori d'Autore in Italia dal 1900 al 1930, Laterza, 1985, pl. 14 (the red-painted version illustrated);
Roberto Ripa, L'Opera di Antonio Amore, Editrice Salvure, p. 223 (description of Balla's gift to Amore of the chair)