Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

Steltman Stoel by Gerrit Rietveld (1888 - 1964) White set hardwood (oak). Right-handed version. Hand signed "G.A.v.d.Groenekan". H 70, W 44,5, D 48,5 cm. Design 1963, hand signed version by Gerard van de Groenekan, Utrecht, before 1971. The chair model was commissioned by The Hague jeweler Steltman, for whom Rietveld realized a new store interior in 1963. The original chair was fully upholstered with foam rubber and covered with white imitation leather, the seams of which ran along the wooden edges. The version with the wooden seat was built only after Rietveld's death in 1964. With his last and elementarily reduced design, the 75-year-old designer created one of the most spectacular creations in the history of design. Gerard A. van de Groenekan began working in Gerrit Rietveld's workshop in Utrecht in 1917 at the age of fourteen. In 1924, Rietveld decided to concentrate on architecture and left furniture production in the hands of van de Groenekan, who then continued to build many of Rietveld's models, including older ones, under his own name. Van de Groenekan played a decisive role in the development of many objects, including this version of the Steltman chair with its wooden seat. In 1971 van de Groenekan sold the production rights to Cassina. The Museum Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam owns another version by Gerard van de Groenekan after 1964, acc. no. V 1040 (KN&V). A foam upholstered example from the jeweler's store is in the Museum Kröller Müller in Arnhem. Provenance Acquired by the consignor directly from Gerard van de Groenekan in 1982. Literature Cf. Baroni, The Furniture of Gerrit Rietveld, New York 1978, p. 158, no. 68. Cf. Barry Friedman Gallery Ltd (ed.), Gerrit Rietveld: A Centenary Exhibition, New York 1988, p. 60. Cf. Kuper/van Zijl, The Complete Works of Gerrit Rietveld, Utrecht 1992, pp. 332 and 341, no. 646. Cf. Vöge, The Complete Rietveld Furniture, Rotterdam 1993, p. 166, no. 371. Cf. von Zijl, Gerrit Rietveld. The Revolution of Space, Weil am Rhein 2012.