Details

Title

Long Chair

Artist/Maker

Marcel Breuer (American, born Hungary), 1902-1981, designer and maker

Date

ca. 1936

Medium

Sycamore plywood and maple

Dimensions

32 3/4 x 22 x 60 inches

Credit

Purchase with funds from the Decorative Arts Acquisition Endowment and the Friends of the Decorative Arts

Accession #

2003.2

Location

On View - Stent Family Wing, Level 2, Gallery 207

Before moving to the United States after fleeing Germany, designer and architect Marcel Breuer enjoyed a brief but creative stint working in England (1934–1937). While collaborating with the London-based Isokon firm, he adapted an earlier aluminum chaise design for his Long Chair, which was made from plywood, a sturdy, highly flexible, and relatively novel material at the time. Plywood as a material for the modern chaise promised enhanced comfort, complete weight distribution, and even—because it was shaped into a relaxed form—“a better aid to digestion.”