Chair by Michael van Beuren for Domus of Mexico City

Chair by Michael van Beuren for his company, Domus of Mexico City. Curved wood slat seat and back. The top of the chair is wrapped in rush.

In 1937, Van Beuren designed this chair for the bungalows at the famous Hotel Los Flamingos in Acapulco. It was his first project in Mexico and the beginning of the Bauhaus-trained designer’s long career in the country. In the 1950s, John Wayne and Johnny Weissmuller purchased Hotel Los Flamingos and operated it as a private club for the Hollywood elite.

The label reads: Muebles. Domus. Hamburgo 40 Mexico d.F. por Van BEUREN y CIA. Made in Mexico.

Dimensions: 26″ Deep x 28.5″ Wide x 29.5″ High. Seat Height: 16.5″

Excellent original condition with expected patina.

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Archival Photo: El Diseño De Van Beuren, Ana Elena Mallet

The American-born designer studied under Josef Albers at the Bauhaus in Germany in 1932 and then with Mies van der Rohe in Berlin after the Bauhaus closed. He was offered a job as an architect in Mexico and moved there in 1937. He established his company, Domus, in Mexico City in 1938. Early on, he worked with his Bauhaus colleague, Klaus Grabe. In 1941 they were selected for the ‘Organic Design for Home Furnishings” competition at MoMA. Grabe moved back to the United States, while Van Bueren stayed in Mexico.

Source: El Diseño De Van Beuren, Ana Elena Mallet.

A Van Beuren chair is in LACMA’s collection and was included in their exhibition and catalogue, Found in Translation: Design in California and Mexico, 1915-1985