Gerrit Th. Rietveld 1888-1964
Two-part writing desk ‘r6’, 1931
On the left: A black lacquered wooden top on a silver-painted metal frame with nickel-plated tubular steel legs. A white painted drawer unit with two small drawers and nickel-plated handles is mounted under the desktop.
On the right: A black-stained cabinet with white edges and a glass top, four storage compartments, and three large drawers with nickel-plated handles.
Dimensions: 70 x 150 x 90 cm./27,5 x 59 x 35,4 Inch.
Executed by: The Dutch avant-garde warehouse ‘Metz&Co’. under Rietveld’s control, Amsterdam/The Hague, The Netherlands, 1931-1935
Desk r6 demonstrates how, after his huge contribution to the aesthetic movement ‘De Stijl’, Rietveld continued to renew himself. In this desk he designed for the avant-garde warehouse Metz & Co., he incorporates features of his asymmetrical furniture from the early 1920s, such as the ‘Berlin Chair’, while simultaneously he is conforming to the principles of functionalism. It is an important transitional piece that marks a turn in Rietveld’s career as an architect and furniture designer in the early 1930s, towards functionalism.
It also marks the start of a long and fruitful cooperation with Metz & Co in Amsterdam and The Hague, who played a key role as a manufacturer, reseller and promoter of modernist design. During the process of moving away from artisanal furniture making in his own workshop towards designing serial products mend to be executed by a third party, Metz & Co. gave Rietveld ample space for his experiments.
They also organized high-profile presentations and exhibitions in house and abroad to show Rietveld’s, many times groundbreaking, furniture designs to their network of sophisticated clients. Historic photos, published in architectural magazines, newspapers and folders are showing Desk r6 at a prominent position at several important presentations of Rietveld’s new furniture designs in the early 1930s.
Provenance:
Gilles Pieter de Neve, Dutch publisher of art calendars, Amsterdam, 1931/35-1978; His daughter Joanne de Neve, 1978-2015.
Mr. G.P. de Neve came into contact with Gerrit Rietveld in the early 1930s through his work as the publisher of the art calendar ‘De Baanbreker’ (The Pioneer). In 1931, an article by Gerrit Rietveld was published in ‘De Baanbreker’, alongside with a photo of the famous ‘Harrenstein interior’.
This was also the year Metz & Co first presented Desk r6 to the public, in a model-home in a new modernist apartment building Rietveld designed in commission of Truus Schröder, located opposite to the ‘Rietveld-Schröder House’ in Utrecht. Being a great admirer of Rietveld’s work, Publisher de Neve purchased the desk for his wife, who left it to her daughter in 1978.
Literature:
M. Küper, I. van Zijl, Gerrit Th. Rietveld 1888-1964, The Complete Works, Centraal Museum Utrecht 1992, p. 134-135.; P. Timmer, Metz & Co de creatieve jaren, 010 Publishers Rotterdam 1995, p.77-94.
This high-end museum quality desk is also fit for daily use in its original condition.
