September 16, 2022 – January 7, 2023
“Successful Seating,” an international survey of outstanding wood chair designs, will be on display at the Messler Gallery of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, in Rockport, ME, from September 16, 2022 through January 7, 2023.
The show’s curator is Peter Korn, who founded the Center and has been an impassioned chair maker for almost fifty years. It presents 16 chairs by 14 designers from seven countries, all of which are currently in production. These range from classics such as Michael Thonet’s #14 (first introduced in 1859) and Hans Wegner’s Wishbone Chair (1949), to recent introductions such as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s Osso Chair (2019) and Jasper Morrison’s Iso-Lounge (2021).
“It is beyond challenging to come up with a chair that succeeds on all levels. Inevitably, there are tradeoffs between comfort, beauty, strength, durability, portability, and affordability,” says Korn. “These chairs show what great design looks like when it needs to be commercially viable.”
The chairs in “Successful Seating” include Hans Sandgren Jakobsen’s Elegance for manufacturer Asahi Wood, Jakob Berg’s Oslo stackable for Brayton, David Ericsson’s Petite and Madonna for Gärsnäs, Folke Pälsson’s J77 for Hay, Simon Pengelly’s Theo for New Design Group, Barber & Osgerby’s Ballot and Shell for Isokon Plus, Jasper Morrison’s Iso-Lounge for Isokon Plus, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s Osso for Mattiazzi, Tom Moser’s Continuous Arm for Thos. Moser, and Michael Thonet’s No. 14 café chair, manufactured by TON. In addition, there are four classics from retailer Design Within Reach: Charles and Ray Eame’s DCM; Gio Ponti’s Leggera; Niels Otto Moller’s Model 78; and Hans Wegner’s Wishbone.
