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"Proust" Armchair

Designed 1978; made 1998-1999
Designed by Alessandro Mendini (Italian, 1931–2019) Made by Atelier Mendini, Milan, Italy (1989–present)
Alessandro Mendini was a member of Studio Alchimia (founded 1976), a group of experimental Italian designers who rejected the strict principles of modernism, and embraced ornament, symbolism and craftsmanship. For the "Proust" armchair Mendini selected a ready-made Rococo revival chair and had it hand-painted with Pointillist brushstrokes derived from a painting by nineteenth-century French painter Paul Signac. The pattern consumes the generous, scrolling form of the chair, covering both the upholstery and the carved woodwork.

Object Details

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