Wright Auction

One of Gerrit Rietveld’s later important works, the Danish chair was first designed in 1946 for the entrance hall of Tomado factories in Dordrecht, Netherlands. In total, only four or five examples are known to exist, with one being an aluminum and steel prototype. Inspired by the experiments in bent plywood that Finnish architect Alvar Aalto conducted in the 1930s, with his Paimio chair and Model 60 stacking stools, as well as Charles and Ray Eames’ LCW (Lounge Chair Wood) of 1945, Rietveld elaborated his own spin on this concept during the functionalist phase of his career, when he was focused on creating affordable housing and furniture. Composed of interlocking pieces of bent wood, the Danish chair is sleek and sturdy, but it was reviewed poorly at exhibition in the early 1950s, which prevented mass production from ever occurring.

As an art student at the University of California in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Michael Boyd created geometric abstract paintings that alluded to the compositions of great non-objective painters like Mondrian and Malevich, only to be struck by how difficult it was to achieve a minimal work without superfluous ornamentation. The “art of reduction,” as Boyd describes it, was more complicated than it seemed, and has enthralled the collector for years.

To Boyd, Rietveld’s oeuvre represents a purity of form, concentrated vigor with timeless appeal.

The same notion is what first appealed to Boyd in the work of Gerrit Rietveld, which he describes as “three-dimensional Mondrian”. A self-proclaimed fanatic for the Dutch master, Boyd’s selection of works by Rietveld (the cornerstone of his collection) speaks to his sensibilities on a personal level, “I’m captivated with the early or proto-modernism in that hand-built art and objects were meant to look like they were machine-made…on one level the objects have a hand-wrought folk art sensibility and on another level the pieces represent the struggle to get to a universal place without ego”.

To Boyd, Rietveld’s oeuvre represents a purity of form, concentrated vigor with timeless appeal. These are the qualities that drive his passion for collecting and inspire his own creative output. The exceptional works offered here are identity pieces for both Rietveld and Boyd, embodiments of ambition captured in singular designs, encapsulating the philosophy of both their creator and their devotee.