Conchoidal Chair without Arms (Perspective sketch)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969
early 1940s
A spare pencil-on-paper perspective sketch by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe proposing an armless “conchoidal” chair, where the designer experiments with a single flowing shell to form seat and back.
Sparse, confident graphite lines and soft shading evoke a shell-like, curving seat with a slightly flared, ribbed back set against the wide blank paper so the form appears to float.
The drawing distills Mies’s modernist credo of economy and clarity, showing how he translated architectural rigor into furniture by exploring organic curves and structural simplicity that shaped mid‑century seating design.
Medium
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
6 x 8 5/16" (15.2 x 21.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect
Accession
1141.1974
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
