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A.Y.O.R. (At Your Own Risk) Chair

Artist
Ron Arad, English (born Israel), born 1951
Date
1990
Classification
Furniture, metalwork
Current Location
On View, Gallery 131
Dimensions
36 7/8 x 19 1/4 x 20 in. (93.7 x 48.9 x 50.8 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Shop Fund
Rights
© Ron Arad
Object Number
6:2006
NOTES
A meditation on balance, this faceted steel chair tips forward like a tottering question mark. Israeli-born Ron Arad developed an appreciation for humble sheet metal early in his career, creating an influential series of experimental hand-welded furniture in his London studio. This "A.Y.O.R. (At Your Own Risk) Chair" was meticulously crafted by Arad himself. Its highly polished seams and surface give an illusion of a sculptural whole.
1990 - 1997
J. W. Tuytel (d. c.1995), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, acquired from the artist [1]

1997 - 2005
Galleria Clio Calvi Rudy Volpi, Milan, Italy, purchased from J. W. Tuytel

2005 - 2006
Barry Friedman Ltd., New York, NY, USA, purchased from Galleria Clio Calvi Rudy Volpi

2006 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Barry Friedman Ltd. [2]


Notes:
The main sources for this provenance are an email from Marc Benda of Barry Friedman Ltd. and notes from a conversation between Cara McCarty and Marc Benda [email from Marc Benda, January 10, 2006; email from Cara McCarty, January 10, 2006, SLAM document files].

[1] Marc Benda reports that Galleria Clio Calvi Rudy Volpi informed him that they purchased the chair from J. W. Tuytel in 1997 [email from Marc Benda, January 16, 2006, SLAM document files].

[2] Invoice from Barry Friedman Ltd., January 13, 2006 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, February 21, 2006; and the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 11, 2006.