TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) returns to Maastricht from 14-19 March 2026, and a rare 1950s ‘Folded Aluminium’ chair by Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) will be sure to catch your eye. Presented by Galerie Van den Bruinhorst, the Dutch architect and designer's chair represents his interest in experimental and expressive furniture for mass production.
‘Folded Aluminium’ chair by Gerrit Rietveld
'Rietveld really believed in the Machine Age,' says Ad van den Bruinhorst, design dealer and specialist of modern design of the interwar period. 'He wanted to play a role in mass production, though his designs were often too daring to appeal to a broad audience, so he became a designer who showed the way for others.'
The ‘Folded Aluminium’ chair captures this innovative spirit: constructed from a single sheet of aluminium, strengthened with a brutal pattern of holes. Never reaching its intended industrial scale, it is one of only six ever made and is being sold at TEFAF with a price tag of just over €500,000.
More specifically, it's one of only two ‘high’ versions of the chair, which was sketched by Rietveld on the back of an envelope from 1951 (ironically marked ‘Do not fold’), which is in the archives of Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam. The four ‘low’ versions include one early prototype dating to 1942-3, and three made by Rietveld and his son in the early 1960s for the University of Delft’s collection.
TEFAF find: Gerrit Rietveld’s colourful Strandwagen
Part of the ‘Focus’ section of TEFAF, Galerie Van den Bruinhorst’s presentation features other rare Rietveld creations, including the colourful, geometric Strandwagen (or Beach Buggy), estimated to date to the second half of the 1920s, and priced at just over €250,000.
Designed to transport children to the beach, the Strandwagen was designed by Rietveld in 1923, the same year that he transformed his monochrome ‘Slatted Armchair’ of 1918 into the iconic ‘Red and Blue Chair’ with its primary colour scheme. Might this playful Strandwagen have inspired that decision?
This example is one of four surviving Strandwagens, and only around seven or eight are known to have ever been made. 'Before the Second World War, Rietveld made furniture for people he knew and for the houses he designed, so the numbers of these pieces are very low,' says Van den Bruinhorst.
A 1933 picture of the first owners with their daughter, in the Beach Buggy, in the forest, Oisterwijk, The Netherlands
This example has been owned for all this time by one family, who passed it on over generations and photographed it in use every decade from the 1930s, capturing an incredible social portrait of its life. 'I’ve never experienced a piece so well documented,' remarks Van den Bruinhorst. 'Pieces that have proof of good provenance and a good story are the most valuable over time.'
More TEFAF: discover midcentury and architect-designed furniture
1952 cabinet by Osvaldo Borsani, from Galleria Rossella Colombari
There’s much more to see across TEFAF as always, and when it comes to midcentury furniture, further highlights include a 1952 cabinet by Osvaldo Borsani, blending Italian modernism with Chinese decorative arts, presented by Galleria Rossella Colombari, which is also showing pieces by Carlo Mollino and Carlo Zen.
Chair by Formafantasma for Friedman Benda
Zaha Hadid for David Gill
Friedman Benda presents a collection of furniture and lighting titled ‘Formation’ by Formafantasma, employing cherry wood and aluminium, influenced by Shaker design, Frank Lloyd Wright, and George Nakashima.
At David Gill, don’t miss the fluid 2016 ‘UltraStellar’ double seat bench by Zaha Hadid and lyrical pieces in walnut wood and patinated copper by Maastricht-based German designer Valentin Loellmann.