Armchair

Bernhard Pankok

ca. 1901 · Oak, leather upholstery · Modern and Contemporary Art

Pankok’s armchair is part of a lady’s sitting-room suite that the designer presented at the 1901 Dresden International Exhibition. A cofounder of the Vereinigten Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk (United Workshops for Arts and Crafts), Pankok designed this chair in the manner of Jugendstil (Style of Youth), a restrained, curvilinear German interpretation of French Art Nouveau popular during the 1890s and early twentieth century. The sensuous, swelling forms and contours make the armchair appear like a living organism. The combination of warm oak and dark leather enhances its appeal.

Artist

Bernhard Pankok

Date

ca. 1901

Medium

Oak, leather upholstery

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Purchase, Florene M. Schoenborn Bequest, by exchange, 1998