From 22 February at 19 May 2019 the Vitra Design Museum marks the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus with an exhibition on the entrepreneur and designer Anton Lorenz at the Vitra Schaudepot. Curator Susanne Graner, head of Collection and Archive.
As a key figure in the rise of modern tubular steel furniture, Lorenz’s importance stems not only from his furniture designs, but also from his patented inventions and successful entrepreneurial ventures. The show encompasses furniture by such legendary designers as Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in addition to objects and documents from the estate of Anton Lorenz. Like virtually no other material, tubular steel embodied avant-garde ideals of the Bauhaus such as the quest for a »machine aesthetic« and radically new structural solutions, which culminated in the famous cantilever chair.
The archival estate of Anton Lorenz entered the holdings of the Vitra Design Museum in 1989. Now for the first time, the Vitra Design Museum is presenting important documents from this collection in the exhibition »Anton Lorenz: From Avant-Garde to Industry«. Complemented by furniture designs from numerous protagonists of the Bauhaus era as well as pieces by Lorenz himself, this show in the Vitra Schaudepot offers a fascinating look behind the scenes of avant-garde design. It becomes clear that the breakthrough of modern furniture did not solely result from ingenious designs. Equally important were companies, legal cases, patents, manufacturing methods – and innovators like Anton Lorenz, who merged all of these aspects to bring the ideas of the avant-garde to as many people as possible.
Opening hours: Daily from 10 am to 6 pm
Further information: T +49.7621.702.3200 | info@design-museum.de | www.design-museum.de
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