Chair (Primary Title)
"Cobra" Chair (Former Title)
Carlo Bugatti, Italian, 1855 - 1940 (Artist)
Following the success of the Paris World’s Fair in 1900, the Italian government organized the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts in Turin in 1902. Carlo Bugatti’s furniture and interiors, inspired by Middle Eastern and Asian design, were considered the most original at the Turin exhibition. Among the three rooms designed by Bugatti was a “Snail Room,” furnished with his distinctive “G” profile, or “cobra,” chairs in which the seat and back are a continuous curved form. (See the nearby photograph of this room). Of all his furniture, those pieces he created for Turin are among his most outstanding in both concept and execution; the museum’s chair is one of the original four examples.
Sydney and Frances Lewis Art Nouveau Fund
International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts, Turin, Italy, 1902;
Art Nouveau, Artmobile Exhibition, September 1972-May 1975
Art Nouveau, Artmobile Exhibition, September 1972-May 1975
See Curatorial File for numerous citations)
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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