LOS ANGELES, CA.- Bonhams announces its inaugural Design auction will take place April 29 in Los Angeles. The biannual sale will feature furniture and works of art by top market architects and designers, and this spring's auction will offer 126 lots of versatile and functional examples of modern design.
Leading the sale is a single-owner collection of furniture by Swiss architect and designer Pierre Jeanneret that includes furniture custom-designed and produced for the planned city of Chandigarh in the foothills of the Himalayas in North West India. The city was conceived by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru following partition of the country in 1947. Nehru wanted not only a new capital for the Punjab, but also a city of modernity that would articulately express India’s belief and self-confidence in the future. In achieving a new modern city, Nehru hired the master of European modernism, Le Corbusier, to conceive the overall master plan. Le Corbusier ended up moving on from the project halfway through, leaving his cousin to remain for the next 15 years as chief architect and designer.
Highlights that originate from this commission - one of the most ambitious and well-conceived and executed city plans of the modern age - include a pair of Fireside chairs (est. $25,000-35,000) for the High Court building, as well as the University of Punjab. There will also be Kangourou fireside chairs ($20,000-30,000), a teak and formica conference table (est. $20,000-30,000), a pigeonhole desk and chair set designed for the Secretariat and other government administrative buildings (est. $15,000-20,000) and two aluminum ventilator shutters set in a teak frame (est. $15,000-25,000) designed by Le Corbusier.
These custom works are a rarity to find, as unlike many designs from other well-known architectural projects, such as the eponymous Barcelona chair designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the Barcelona Pavilion, 1929, they were designed and produced specifically for the city.
Additionally in the sale will be a rare and monumental articulated wall light by Serge Mouille, circa 1950s (est. $30,000-50,000), and a complete chess set, circa 1945, by Man Ray that was acquired by the current owner from the legendary surrealist artist himself in 1947 (est. $12,000-18,000). The auction also features works of 1950s American design from architects and designers such as Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Harry Bertoia, Alexander Girard and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Commenting on the first auction of its kind at Bonhams, the Director of 20th Century Decorative Art and Design in Los Angeles, Dan Tolson, exclaimed, “We are thrilled to be presenting our inaugural design auction on US soil. Back in the late 1980s, Bonhams emerged as the world’s leading pioneer in the embryonic market for design from the second half of the 20th century. It is satisfying for us to bring our experience and heritage in this market to a receptive audience in Los Angeles."
The auction will preview from April 24-28.
