The Boyd Collection – I. Masterworks 
8 November 2018
The Boyd Collection – I. Masterworks 
23

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich

Custom MR 10 chair

Berliner Metallgewerbe Joseph Müller
Germany, 1927 / 1930
painted tube steel, cane 32¾ h × 19½ w × 27½ d in (83 × 50 × 70 cm)
estimate: $5,000–7,000
result: $11,875
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Although rarely seen, the earliest production of Mies van der Rohe's tubular furniture was available in primary colors aligning the chair with the principles of the Bauhaus. This example dates from the first production by Joseph Muller with a screw connection at the base of the original lacquered frame. This example was custom-ordered in red by the poet Adriaan Roland Holst in 1930.
provenance: Custom-ordered in 1930 by Adriaan Roland Holst, Sloterdijkm, The Netherlands | Annie 'Rolanda' Roland Holst | Richard Roland Holst | Acquired in 1965 from the previous, Private Collection, San Diego | Collection of Michael and Gabrielle Boyd
literature: Mies van der Rohe: Architecture and Design in Stuttgart, Barcelona, Brno, von Vegesack and Kries, ppg. 30, 78, 82 Stühle aus Stahl: Metallmöbel 1925-1940, van Geest and Mácel, pg. 96, pl. 2

print

The present lot was custom-ordered in red by the poet and Nobel Prize nominee, Adriaan Roland Holst in 1930. Remaining in the family for more than three decades, these works traveled to San Diego when the family moved to the United States in 1965.

The Vagabond

Adriaan Roland Holst

They weigh the pros and cons
their money and their god
and are set to resist
my flight of fate, because my hands
and eyes are empty
carried through their lands, and remained silent
in their differences, and went as blind
for the solitary will
of wind and stars.

Adriaan Roland Holst
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