Pratt Chair, No. 3

In 1983, financed by the Pratt Institute of New York, Gaetano Pesce designed a series of nine chairs exploring the boundaries between art and design and testing the possibilities of urethane. The series begins with a chair so soft that it cannot support itself, but rather appears as a melting form which cannot be used. As the series progresses, the material hardens so that the ninth and final chair is the most rigid.
Number 3, the lot offered here, "can support a child while remaining an object of contemplation for the adult" (Vanlaethem, p. 83). Its vibrant red and green hues show off the molded decorative details that are hidden within the folds and curves of the chair, and the whole becomes reminiscent of a surrealist dreamscape.
The lot is accompanied by two vivid dreamscape studies, which were originally part of a single scroll drawn by Pesce during the Pratt sessions. In 1988, he presented them to the current owner, and after tearing the sheet in half, dated the second one as well.

molded urethane
stamped in mold "NEW YORK/1984" together with two drawings of the "Pratt" chair series
dated 1984 and 1988 (3)
34 in. (86.4 cm) high
the drawings: 33 3/4 x 85 1/2 in.
(85.9 x 217.2 cm) framed

Provenance:
Acquired directly from the designer

Illustrated:
France Vanlaethem, Gaetano Pesce: Architecture Design Art, London, 1989, p. 83-84 (the chair and the drawings)