This famous Red Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld was once owned by the designer and cultural figure Benno Premsela. He ordered it in 1961 from Rietveld’s regular cabinetmaker. Every design museum in the world wants a chair like this, as few objects capture the spirit of the modern age so clearly and concisely. Over more than a century, the chair has become an icon. It has been looked at far more often than it has been sat on.
What began as a misunderstood avant-garde object was, after the Second World War, embraced by figures such as Premsela as a symbol that could contribute to a better world. In reality, very few people owned such a chair at home. For a long time it was primarily a famous conversation piece, found mainly in museums and expensive shops, and in magazines and books.
Chairs, along with vases and lamps, have long carried the debate about design. Rietveld’s chair was later joined by those of celebrated designers such as Achille Castiglioni, Charles Eames and Konstantin Grcic. But the time when innovative chairs represented our changing world has passed. The Red Blue Chair rightly draws attention, yet here it serves mainly to introduce a new design culture. At Design Museum Den Bosch you will therefore find few chairs, vases or lamps, but rather cars, trainers and phones.