Alvar Aalto - Design London Monday, April 28, 2014 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Dansk Møbelkunst, Paris, 2010

  • Literature

    Thomas Kellein, ed. alvar & aino aalto. design collection bischofberger, exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Zurich, 2005, p. 172
    Charlotte and Peter Fiell, eds., 1000 Lights, Vol. 1: 1879 to 1959, Cologne, 2005, p. 493

  • Artist Biography

    Alvar Aalto

    Finnish • 1898 - 1976

    In contrast with the functionalism of the International Style (as well the neoclassicism put forward by the Nazi and Soviet regimes), Alvar Aalto brought a refreshing breath of humanism to modern design: "True architecture exists only where man stands in the center," he wrote. Aalto designed furniture in stack-laminated plywood composed of Finnish birch, which was cost-effective and lent warmth to his interiors. Aalto also revived Finnish glass design with his entries in the various Karhula-Iitala glassworks competitions throughout the 1930s.

    In 1936 he won first place for a collection of colorful, wavy vases in various sizes titled Eskimoerindens skinnbuxa (The Eskimo Woman’s Leather Breeches). The vases were an immediate success and the most popular size, now known as the "Savoy" vase, is still in production today. Aalto's freeform designs, in harmony with human needs and nature, anticipated the organic modernism of the 1950s and 1960s; in particular, his innovations in bent plywood had a major impact on designers such as Charles and Ray Eames.

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140

Pair of 'Hand Grenade' ceiling lights, model no. A111

circa 1962
Brass, painted metal.
Each: 33.5 cm (13 1/4 in.) high, 12.3 cm (4 7/8 in.) diameter, variable drop
Manufactured by Valaistustyö Ky, Finland.

Estimate
£3,000 - 4,000 

Sold for £6,000

Contact Specialist
Ben Williams
Senior Specialist, Head of Sale
bwilliams@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4027

Design

London Auction 29 April 2014 2pm