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Barwa Chair

A work made of aluminum and canvas.

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  • A work made of aluminum and canvas.

Date:

c. 1950

Artist:

Edgar Bartolucci (American, 1918–2014)
John J. Waldheim (American)

About this artwork

This lightweight chaise features a novel, angled tubular aluminum frame that enables the user to move from a seated to a reclining position with just a slight shift of body weight. First produced in 1947 by Bartolucci and Waldheim, graduates of the Illinois Institute of Technology Institute of Design, the chair quickly became associated with a new ideal of postwar leisure in the United States. This innovative design is a low-cost adaption of modernist experimentation with the lounge chair for a new suburban context.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Architecture and Design

Artist

Edgar Bartolucci

Title

Barwa Chair

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Designed 1950

Medium

Aluminum and canvas

Dimensions

104 × 129.5 × 51 cm (41 × 51 × 20 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Stanley Tigerman and Margaret McCurry

Reference Number

2017.413

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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