Franz West Furniture

For Franz West, art was a social experience. Starting with his signature Passstücke, or Adaptives, in the 1970s, the Austrian-born artist (1947–2012) made sculptures that were meant to be handled and “adapted” by the audience. His furniture works, which he began creating in the early 1980s, only took this intention further. Furniture became an extensive part of his practice by the latter half of the decade—in his mind, these sculptural works were “Adaptives for the human body at rest.”

In parallel with West’s inclusion in the 2019 West Bund Art & Design fair in Shanghai, David Zwirner Online presents a selection of furniture by the late artist. Installations of his furniture have been presented at the Venice Biennale; the Kunsthistorisches Museum, in Vienna; The Dia Center, in New York, and Documenta, in Kassel, Germany, among many others. Presented here is a selection that includes a group of chairs in lurid hues of pink, red, yellow, blue, and green, along with his Divan, Chaise Lounge, Trog (Trough) sofa, and Sinnlos coatrack.

Browse Available Furniture by Franz West

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

33 1/2 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (85 x 51 x 54 cm)

Franz West

Textilstuhl (Textile Chair), 2012

Steel, foam, linen, and paint

33 7/8 x 19 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches (86 x 50 x 50 cm)

Franz West’s chairs installed on the Punta della Dogana, 44th Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 1990.

Clamp (1995), installed in the Carnegie International 1995, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

34 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (88 x 51 x 54 cm)

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

34 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (88 x 51 x 54 cm)

“I came to art via the places where artists meet, places where you would go and sit.”

— Franz West

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

33 1/2 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (85 x 51 x 54 cm)

Franz West

Diwan (Divan), 1991

Steel, foam, rubber, and linen

39 3/8 x 90 1/2 x 33 1/2 inches (100 x 230 x 85 cm)

Franz West pictured with Viennoiserie,1998, Tate, UK

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

34 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (88 x 51 x 54 cm)

Franz West

Trog (Trough), 1996/2015

Steel, foam, and linen

31 1/2 x 66 7/8 x 27 1/2 inches (80 x 170 x 70 cm)

Auditorium (1992), installed at documenta IX, Kassel, Germany, 1992

From left: Franz West in his studio, Vienna, 1995. © Archiv Franz West, © Estate Franz West. Franz West chairs, photograph by Matthieu Lavanchy

Photo by Matthieu Lavanchy

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

34 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (88 x 51 x 54 cm)

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

34 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (88 x 51 x 54 cm)

David Zwirner reclining in Franz West’s Untitled (Chaise Lounge), 1994. Photo by Sebastian Hartz

“The subversiveness of using furniture as sculpture and vice-versa is self-evident. It was West’s attempt to challenge the aesthetic relationships between art and objects of everyday life.”

— David Zwirner

Franz West

Sinnlos (Senseless), 2008

Steel and synthetic resin paint

15 3/4 x 78 3/4 x 3 7/8 inches (40 x 200 x 10 cm)

Photo by Matthieu Lavanchy

Franz West

Chaiselongue (Chaise Longue), 1992

Steel, Foam rubber, and linen

38 7/8 x 36 1/4 x 50 3/8 inches (99 x 92 x 128 cm)

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

34 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (88 x 51 x 54 cm)

Franz West

Künstlerstuhl (Artist's Chair), 2006

Stainless steel, epoxy resin, and acrylic lacquer

34 5/8 x 20 1/8 x 21 1/4 inches (88 x 51 x 54 cm)

Available

In 1988 and 1989, Franz West created a series of "double-seats,” which include Liege (Chaise), that were designed for use by two people. In exhibiting these pieces as he did in his 1989 exhibition at P.S.1 in New York, West would often place newspapers over his early furniture works in order to provide fodder for conversation. The newspaper would be replaced every day with the current edition.

Franz West

Liege (Chaise), 1989

Metal

28 1/4 x 28 1/2 x 77 inches (71.8 x 72.4 x 195.6 cm)

Photo by Matthieu Lavanchy

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