Gerrit Rietveld

From his first great design masterpiece, the Red-Blue Chair, to his final design for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Gerrit Rietveld created a significant body of work and left a remarkable legacy. His simple yet dynamic design style has greatly affected international furniture design and has made a significant contribution to the history of architecture. His unconventional approach and extraordinary furniture, hailed by Theo van Doesburg as ‘the new sculpture’, inspired many of his contemporaries just as it continues to inspire today’s designers; he has he has been cited as a source of inspiration by designers ranging from Verner Panton to Konstantin Grcic. This detailed yet accessible monograph is structured chronologically and richly illustrated with photographs and sketches of Reitveld’s furniture design and his twenty-odd architectural projects. Following Rietveld from his humble beginnings as a cabinet-maker to his final years as a world-renowned architect, this book will present both his lesser-known work and his most celebrated, such as “The Zigzag Chair” of 1934. One chapter focuses exclusively on the Schroder House of 1924, which is among the very few twentieth-century buildings to be accorded UNESCO World Heritage Monument status. Produced in collaboration with the Centraal Museum, which holds the world’s largest collection of Rietveld’s work, this book includes a number of never-before-published images of Rietveld’s work and his life. Author Ida van Zijl, who is the Deputy Director of the Centraal Museum and who has organized a variety of exhibitions that have included Rietveld, gives a thorough, accessible account of Rietveld’s life and his work. She also explores his significance in the wider context of avante-garde movements, such as his influence within De Stijl and Functionalism, and well as the lesser-known but equally interesting work he produced with an eye towards mass housing and industrial production. Designed by Wim Crowel, the best-known Dutch graphic designer, the book provides a rich mixture of beautiful images and a fascinating story. Most crucially, this book will give Rietveld the attention he has long deserved as a designer and architect, presenting a comprehensive coverage of his output and a full analysis of his achievements.