Pair of B3 Wassily armchairs by Marcel Breuer for Gavina

1960s

Italy

Canvas and chromed steel

73cm high, 77.5cm wide, 67cm deep

Marcel Breuer (1902–1981) was a Hungarian-born architect and designer, and a leading figure of modernism. He studied at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany, starting in 1920, and later became the head of its furniture workshop.

In 1925, while working at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Breuer designed the B3 chair, which later became known as the Wassily Chair. The chair was one of the first to use bent tubular steel as a structural material in furniture. The lightweight and durable construction of bicycle frames inspired Breuer. The B3 chair consists of a tubular steel frame with stretched fabric or leather forming the seat, back, and armrests.

The name “Wassily Chair” was adopted in the 1960s, after it became known that the painter Wassily Kandinsky, who taught at the Bauhaus, admired the design. Breuer had made a version for Kandinsky’s studio.

In addition to furniture, Breuer had a successful career in architecture. He worked in Germany, England, and the United States, and was involved in major projects such as the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (now the Met Breuer).