Eero Saarinen for Knoll

EERO SAARINEN (Finland, 1910 – United States, 1961) for Knoll.
Dining set, “Tulip” series, c. 1970.
Lacquered aluminum and marble.
Features signatures, label, and date.
Measurements: 72 x 107 x 107 cm (table); 81 x 50 x 53 cm (chairs, x5).
Around 1955, Eero Saarinen designed a furniture collection for Knoll International in which the four legs of the tables and chairs were eliminated. This collection became known as the Tulip Collection and is now considered one of the international icons of 20th-century design. The piece presented here is a table accompanied by four chairs.
Saarinen initially studied sculpture at the Académie de la Grand Chaumière in Paris, and later architecture at Yale University. He then continued his studies in Europe on a scholarship, and upon his return, he took a professorship at Cranbrook Academy, one of the most important institutions for architecture and industrial design in the United States. In 1937, he began designing furniture in collaboration with Charles Eames, winning the 1940 prize in the “Organic Design in Home Furnishings” competition organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Later, working independently, Saarinen created furniture designs for Knoll International. As an architect, Saarinen became famous for his spaces with curved lines, particularly in the roofs of his buildings, which he used to give them a sense of great lightness. One of his most iconic and well-known buildings is the TWA Terminal at J. F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Today, his designs are featured in major collections around the world, including that of MoMA in New York.