Long chair

Born in 1902 in the city of Pécs, Hungary, Marcel Breuer, working in the modernist style, went on to become one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century. At the age of eighteen he began study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, later, in 1920, enrolling at the influential Bauhaus, after being deeply disappointed with the former. In 1935 he escaped from Nazi Germany to London, where he was offered a design position at Isokon Furniture Company, established in 1931 by Jack Pritchard and Wells Coates. Although Breuer is most famous for his tubular steel furniture, including his iconic Wassily chair, 1925–26, the English market disliked the fashion, so he revisited the use of timber. For his Long chair, Breuer used the strength and flexibility of Isokon’s plywood to create an uninterrupted sculptural line.

The Gallery’s chair comes from Jack Pritchard’s own house and was created during the brief period of two years before the outbreak of war. During this time Breuer, working with Isokon, produced an iconic body of modernist furniture, the Long chair being the most successful and enduring. In 1937 Breuer left for America and in 1939 Isokon closed. The contoured line and manufacture of Long chair would go on to influence generations of furniture designers who were working in the modernist style

Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design