Verner Panton, Amoebe Highback for Vitra

VERNER PANTON (Denmark, 1926 - 1998) for VITRA.
Amoebe Highback chair, design 1970.
High back, upholstered in gray wool.
Minor signs of wear.
Made by Vitra, with label.
Measurements: 130 x 62 x 84 cm. Seat height: 35 cm.

Verner Panton was famous for his exuberant forms and this chair is a magnificent example. The Amoebe armchair was designed in 1970 for the Visiona exhibition, which included several versions of this lounge-style chair. Amoebe Highback has a flexible backrest that ends in a curve over the user's head, in the manner of a sculptural canopy. This eye-catching detail gives the chair a pleasing sense of protection and seclusion, says Vitra.

Considered one of the most influential furniture design personalities of the late 20th century, Verner Panton created a variety of innovative and futuristic designs throughout his career, especially constructed in plastic and brightly colored. Most of his best-known designs are still in production. Verner attended the Odense Technical School and then studied architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, where he graduated in 1951. In the early years of his career, between 1950 and 1942, he worked in the architectural studio of Arne Jacobsen. In 1955 he opened his own architecture and design studio, becoming famous with his furniture based on geometric shapes, manufactured by the company Plus-linje. In the late 1950s, his chair designs, with no legs and no discernible back, became increasingly unconventional. In the 1960s Panton began a close collaboration with the Vitra firm, which culminated in 2000 with Panton's retrospective exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum. He is currently represented at the DesignMuseum in London and MoMA in New York, among many others.