Ludwig Mies van der Rohe MR Lounge Chair for Thonet

Condition: Cognac-coloured upholstery leather. The leather shows a marked patina. Digital stamp on the underside with the production number "20055". Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born in 1886 in Aachen and is considered one of the most important architects of the 20th century. He is one of the leading representatives of architectural modernism. Like no one before him, van der Rohe succeeded in transposing the spirit of rationality, rooted in the scientific revolution, into the world of architecture. Mies van der Rohe began his career with training as a stonemason and draughtsman. His exceptional talent for drawing opened the doors to renowned architects such as Bruno Paul and Peter Behrens, in whose offices he worked in the early 20th century. The outbreak of the First World War and the November Revolution of 1918 also marked profound turning points for the young architect. Now based in Berlin, Mies van der Rohe joined avant-garde artist associations such as the Novembergruppe and the Zehner Ring, which developed new concepts of modern architecture and futuristic design. In 1927, he played a decisive role in the design of the revolutionary pilot housing estate of Weißenhof in Stuttgart, some parts of which are now listed as UNESCO World Heritage. It was for this exhibition that he designed his first avant-garde tubular steel furniture: the legendary MR collection (including the MR 10 and MR 20 legged chairs as well as the remarkable MR chaise longue). Inspired by the material experiments of his Bauhaus colleague Marcel Breuer and the curved forms of 19th-century iron rocking chairs, Mies exploited the suspension potential of bent steel tubing. These elegant pieces of furniture, created in close collaboration with Lilly Reich and still produced today, have total...