A stunning mid-century pendant by Alvar Aalto in red and brass and manufactured by Valaistustyö Finland, 1950s. This lamp is one of our most favorite Alvar Aalto pendants and seems to be one of his, as he used it in their dinning room at their home in Riihitie, not a couple of hundred meters from our storage. (Please see attached photo from the Alvar Aalto home with credit to the Aalto Foundation).
The lamp has a drop of just over 1,5meters and is perfect over dinning tables with its elongated body and triple lamp spots. The interior is in brass and gives
a beautiful warm shine that works beautifully with the red color. Just imagine this lamp over the Holiday table and decorations!
This example is fully restored and repainted in the same original red tone. The lamp is stamped with the manufacturers stamp, Valaistustyö and model number.
We might ship this lamp in 2 boxes instead of one. Should be easier and cheaper that way.
Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is a world famous architect and designer. He was well known for designing his own line of furniture and lighting for the numerous buildings that he designed worldwide. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles, glassware, sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as branches of a tree that stem from architecture.
Aalto's career from the 1920s-1970s is reflected in the styles of his work, ranging from Classicism to Modernism and to an organic style from the 1940s onwards. Aalto and his wife Aino were famous for not only designing the buildings, but the interior surfaces, furniture, lamps and even the glassware for those buildings. Aalto's furniture designs are Scandinavian Modernism at its best, especially his technical innovations on the bent plywood furniture, which in turn had a great impact on Mid-Century Modernist furniture.
Aalto's works are highly sought after and some fetch record prices in auctions and the design world. Of course his works are also widely collected and can be found in numerous private collections and famous museums.