Brooklyn Museum: Decorative Arts: Amoeba Rocking Chair

Amoeba Rocking Chair

The rocking chair here by Frederick Kiesler was part of the unique interior he designed for Art of This Century (see illustration), Peggy Guggenheim's avant-garde gallery in Manhattan that was one of the first to champion Surrealist and Abstract Expressionist art in this country. Peggy Guggenheim, one of the most important dealer-collectors of modern art in the early twentieth century, was a New York heiress of the famous banking family

Designer: Isabelle Moore
Medium: Recycled plastic ("Origin"), plywood
Place Made: Seattle, Washington, USA
Dates: ca. 1995
Dimensions: 25 3/4 x 16 x 37 3/4 in. (65.4 x 40.6 x 95.9 cm)
Collections: Decorative Arts
Museum Location: This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th floor
Accession Number: 1996.133
Credit Line: Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund
Image: Overall, 1996.133_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

Catalogue Description: Rocking chair made out of recycled plastic ("Origin") and plywood. chair back, seat, and underside continuous concave arched form; flat sides. Frame of red plywood covered with sheet of multicolored plastic (with flecks of white, reds, blues, greens, yellows) that are secured to frame with rows of screws; plastic sheet extends about 1 1/2 inches past frame. Ovoid cut-outs through the width of chair in top and bottom are similarly lined with plastic sheets. Condition: Excellent; a few scratches around chair and one lost screw on base.

Collections: Decorative Arts: Amoeba Rocking Chair