Conchoidal Chair with Arms (Elevation sketches)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969
early 1940s
Ink-on-paper sketches in which Mies van der Rohe explores variations of a 'conchoidal' armchair, testing flowing, shell-like curves to reconcile comfort with a streamlined modern profile.
Looping, overlapping pen strokes animate four S-shaped chair silhouettes across the sheet, each rendered as a quick, confident gesture that makes the form feel simultaneously sculptural and in motion.
These studies show Mies’s method of iterative sketching as he translated sculptural ideas into furniture that could be rationalized for industrial production, marking a turn in modernist design toward refined, organic curves.
Medium
Ink on paper
Dimensions
6 x 8 1/4" (15.2 x 20.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect
Accession
1154.1974
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
