Drie eetkamerstoelen 1895 - 1935

This print, by Léon Laroche, is a study of dining chairs made, perhaps, to inspire. The chairs, rendered in subtle washes of pale green and grey, line up like specimens. The colours are muted, elegant, and the lines are so clean. It’s about ideas more than execution. My eye keeps going to the middle chair, with its simple oval back. Look closer, and you can see delicate, tiny flowers painted on the fabric. It’s easy to imagine the artist bent over the paper, patiently adding the details. This one tiny gesture brings the object alive. Laroche is no household name to me, but his chairs remind me of the architectural drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright. They share a precision and simplicity. Both challenge us to think about design as a form of art. And they remind us that even the most functional objects can be beautiful.