AMSTERDAM MODERN

Happy 2015! We got two new containers within two weeks of each other last month, and therefore have been extremely overwhelmed - in other words stumbling over all our new stuff in excitement, joy, and disarray. Here are a few of our favorite Dutch designs from our newest containers! 1. Gerard Van Den Berg for Montis 1970 - "The Rock" Two-Seater and Ottoman Gerard Van Den Berg arguably defined a turning point from classic Mid-Century Dutch furniture design to more contemporary design using different materials, such as rattan and leather. For Montis, a company he started with his brother, his design aesthetic stemmed from concepts of comfort - cushiony seats with a solid and sturdy body. Nevertheless, he maintains a sleek elegance to each piece with his balanced, and often singular, use of warm leather upholstery and carefully placed stitching.  This particular piece is in very good condition! One of the best we've seen. There is some normal wear fr...

Sarfatti "2097" Chandelier, Rietveld Pyramid Chairs, & Friso Kramer REFORM table

- Le Corbusier Influenced by the dawn of the Age of the Machine and modern artists such as Le Corbusier, post World War II modern design began to lean towards the industrial. The result of factories being able to produce copious amounts of sheet and tubular metal from war manufacturing combined with sentiments expressed by artists/architects that the machine was to be revered as an aesthetic, social, and economic marvel produced a large amount of postwar innovation in modern design. A lot of architecture began to change dramatically as it became more streamlined and emphasized simplicity and open space. In conjunction, furniture design evolved to using many different materials such as steel, plastic, and plywood – merging the machine made and factory produced with a more traditional and natural artistic practice.  ‘Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light; l...

Friso Kramer (born 1922. Amsterdam) An iconic and influential industrial furniture designer, founding partner of the acclaimed Total Design Bureau, member of the Amsterdamse Kunstraad, Raad voor Industriële Vormgeving and the International Design Consortium, visiting lecturer, faculty member, international design juror and innovative Dutch design icon, Friso Kramer has informed and popularized the modernist design aesthetic of the Netherlands since the mid 20th century. Perhaps the most notable and classically recognized design is Friso Kramer's 1953 molded plywood and steel 'Revolt' chair. The Revolt Chair became a popular icon of the emerging industrial modernist Dutch style and continues to be a highly sought after design classic. A retrospective of Friso's work was held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1977 & 1978, and was followed by an exhibition at the Boymans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam in 1991. Th...