A beautiful early version of the A38 "high back" Tank chair by Alvar Aalto. This sizable chair is one of the rare Aalto chair creations and it is in beautiful condition. Reupholstered in beautiful moon light coloured sheepskin.
This earlier model of the iconic "tank chair" has a high-back seat with "ears" similar to the model 401 armchairs by Aalto. Although this is a much bigger and heavier version. This model is not often on offer anywhere.
The design dates back to the 1930s with this chair dating back to the 1940s. This model and has not been in production for Artek in decades.
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.
