DESIGNED BY ALESSANDRO MENDINI IN 1978, MADE BY STUDIO ALCHIMIA, MILAN

'Proust's Armchair' was developed by Mendini whilst he was working for Cassina on a range of fabrics which was to be a reflection on Marcel Proust. It coincided with Mendini's development of a series of 're-designs' for furniture where existing shapes and ornamentation were re-interpreted in line with his belief that design must be expressed externally and on the surface of objects if its impact is to be understood in today's fast moving society. These ideas are all encapsulated in Proust's armchair, whose decoration is taken from an enlarged detail of a painting by Signac. The work of the Impressionists was much admired by Proust for its ability to capture the shimmering reality of nature, and Mendini has succeeded in juxtaposing both this transient quality of light and the heavy traditionalism of the Baroque form of the chair.
See: Vitra Design Museum, exh. cat. no. 81.
Fiell, (Modern Chairs), p. 115.