Armchair

c. 1930

Richard Joseph Neutra
American, born Austria, 1892–1970
Los Angeles

“America, according to my convictions,” wrote Richard J. Neutra, “is endowed with the ‘new raw material’ for building—the grand and diversified output of a widespread building material and supply industry.” An Austrian-born architect and furniture designer, Neutra embraced American industrial materials and technologies in his lightfilled buildings and streamlined furnishings like this chair. After training briefly with Frank Lloyd Wright in 1924, Neutra developed a clean aesthetic devoid of applied ornament that was conscious of function and comfort. Here, the curved spring bending from the back to the base allows the chair to adjust to different bodies.

Status: On View, Gallery 265
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Richard Joseph Neutra
Title: Armchair
Place: Los Angeles (Object made in)
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.: c. 1930
Medium: Chrome-plated steel with replacement upholstery
Dimensions: 86.4 × 57.2 × 73.6 cm (34 × 22 1/2 × 29 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Herschel A. Elarth in honor of Dione and Richard J. Neutra, F. A. I. A.
Reference Number: 1987.182

Jennifer M. Downs, “ ‘The New Modern Feeling’: A Catalogue of the Collection,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 27, 2 (2001), 54–56, cat. 14.
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago, From World War I to 1955 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), cat. 77. 87.

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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.

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