{"product_id":"huub-adelheid-kortekaas-engelhart-chair-in-bright-red-cast-polyester","title":"Huub \u0026 Adelheid Kortekaas 'Engelhart' Chair in Bright Red Cast Polyester","description":"Huub and Adelheid Kortekaas, 'Engelhart' lounge chair, glass-fiber reinforced polyester, the Netherlands, 1970 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEqually suited to domestic interiors, gardens, public spaces, and festival environments, the Engelhart reflects the duo's ambition to bring art into everyday life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Engelhart: A Chair for a New Way of Living\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFew Dutch design objects capture the optimism and experimental spirit of the late 1960s as vividly as the Engelhart chair by Huub and Adelheid Kortekaas. Designed in 1970, the chair emerged during one of the most creative periods in the couple's career and forms part of their broader exploration of the Angel, a concept that would become one of the central themes within their artistic universe. Produced in glass-fiber reinforced polyester, the chair was originally conceived for use both inside and outside their own home, reflecting a new and informal approach to living that characterized the era. Today, surviving examples are rare, and the model has become an important testament to a unique moment in Dutch design history. The chair was notably included in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam's 2022 exhibition Everyday, Someday and Other Stories. Collection 1950–1980, highlighting its significance within the design culture of the period.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHuub and Adelheid Kortekaas: Life as a Work of Art\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHuub Kortekaas and Adelheid van Swelm first met in 1965 at Castle Doddendaal. Adelheid was studying landscape architecture, while Huub had already begun developing his artistic practice. What started as a personal relationship soon evolved into an intense creative partnership. United by a shared desire to rethink the relationship between art and everyday life, they developed a vision in which artistic creation extended beyond individual objects to encompass architecture, landscape, philosophy, spirituality, and social engagement. Over the following decades, this collaboration culminated in De Tempelhof, their celebrated Gesamtkunstwerk in Winssen, where house, garden, art, and life merge into a single conceptual whole. Conceived according to what the artists describe as the \"Spiritual Measure of Man,\" De Tempelhof draws inspiration from both the human body and the rhythms and ordering structures found in nature, embodying the duo's lifelong search for harmony, meaning, and human connection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFlower Power, Polyester, and the Spirit of the 1970s\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Engelhart belongs to the period often described as the couple's \"social\" or \"ludic\" phase, a time strongly influenced by the ideals of the counterculture, communal thinking, and the optimism of the Flower Power generation. Across Europe and North America, designers were experimenting with new materials such as inflatable PVC, polyurethane foam, fiberglass, latex, cardboard, and polyester. These technological innovations enabled the creation of fluid, organic forms that broke radically with traditional furniture design and encouraged new ways of sitting, relaxing, and socializing. At the same time, the decorative arts witnessed an explosion of shapes, colors, and materials associated with the Pop Art era. Bright colors, glossy plastics, and unconventional forms challenged the restrained aesthetics of earlier modernism and aligned furniture design with the playful experimentation of contemporary art and avant-garde sculpture. These new materials allowed designers to create soft, sculptural objects that emphasized comfort, informality, and sensory experience rather than strict functionality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrench designers like Pierre Paulin and Olivier Mourgue, and Italian Radical Design groups similarly explored furniture as an immersive and emotional experience rather than a purely functional object. American, Italian, and Finnish designers were particularly successful in promoting and popularizing plastic furniture, helping to establish a new design language centered on innovation, leisure, and self-expression. Within the Netherlands, Huub and Adelheid developed their own highly personal response to these international developments, combining the formal freedom, vibrant materiality, and visual exuberance of contemporary plastic design with a deeper symbolic and philosophical dimension. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Angel as Universal Symbol\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe concept of the Angel first emerged in 1967 at Castle Doddendaal, the idea would later manifest itself in numerous forms: the monumental Engelenkring (Circle of Angels), the couple's first and earliest collaborative projects. As Huub and Adelheid explained:\u003cbr\u003e\"The Angel exists in the field of tension between the masculine and the feminine, from the awareness that we are first and foremost human.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThroughout their oeuvre, the Angel evolved into a central metaphor for human development, connection, and self-knowledge. For the artists, Angel Art symbolized an awakening consciousness and a renewed understanding of humanity's place within the larger order of life. The Angel was not conceived as a religious figure, but as a universal symbol representing the deepest self and the unique creative potential present within every individual. This idea became one of the foundations of the couple's visual language and would continue to reappear in countless forms throughout their artistic practice, including the Engelhart chair.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Lightness of the Angel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGlass-fibre polyester was deliberately chosen for its lightness, durability, and ability to be produced in vivid colors. The material's weightlessness also resonated with the ethereal character of the Angel concept, reinforcing the chair's sense of uplift and freedom. The Engelhart formed part of the broader Engelenkring project, a large-scale artistic installation inspired by the idea of the Angel that travelled from festival to festival during the early 1970s. Within this playful and participatory setting, the chair functioned not merely as a piece of furniture but as an extension of the artistic concept itself. Equally suited to domestic interiors, gardens, public spaces, and festival environments, the Engelhart reflects the duo's ambition to bring art into everyday life.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Morentz","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53835508547927,"sku":null,"price":17374.47,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0289\/5187\/1548\/files\/50118440_St_P_11.jpg?v=1781883231","url":"https:\/\/www.morentz.com\/en-gb\/products\/huub-adelheid-kortekaas-engelhart-chair-in-bright-red-cast-polyester","provider":"Morentz","version":"1.0","type":"link"}