Designed 1978; made 1998-1999

"Proust" Armchair

Alessandro Mendini was a member of Studio Alchimia (founded 1976), a group of experimental Italian designers who rejected the strict principles of modernism, and embraced ornament, symbolism and craftsmanship. For the "Proust" armchair Mendini selected a ready-made Rococo revival chair and had it hand-painted with Pointillist brushstrokes derived from a painting by nineteenth-century French painter Paul Signac. The pattern consumes the generous, scrolling form of the chair, covering both the upholstery and the carved woodwork.