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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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