Conchoidal Chair without Arms (Perspective)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969
early 1940s
A quick pencil-on-paper study by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe exploring the form and proportions of a low, armless “conchoidal” chair—its shell-like curves and base—intended as a design proposal rather than a finished image.
Sparse, fluid pencil strokes define a cupped seat with a high curved back and a flaring, skirt-like base, so the object reads as simultaneously light, sculptural, and immediately tactile.
The drawing reveals Mies’s process of reducing furniture to essential volumes and surfaces, showing how modernist architectural principles of clarity and structure were translated into intimate, industrially informed object design.
Medium
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
6 x 8 3/16" (15.2 x 20.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect
Accession
1083.1974
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
