Paldao Ectoplastic Desk (no. 4106)

Gilbert RohdeWW-1940-136452

1940·Paldao, acacia burl, imitation leather, and brass tacks·74.9 × 132.1 × 81.3 cm (29 1/2 × 52 × 32 in.)

<p>Gibert Rohde’s “Ectoplastic” desk is one of the earliest examples of furniture in the United States featuring the biomorphic shapes associated with Surrealism, a global movement that explored the accidental, the irrational, and the subconscious workings of the mind. Melding fantasy and functionalism, the curvilinear work surface appears to float on top of the leg and base. Rohde designed this desk for the Herman Miller Furniture Company as part of the Paldao Group, an 80-piece furniture suite named for the distinct wood with contrasting grain that appears on the desktop.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1940
Medium: Paldao, acacia burl, imitation leather, and brass tacks
Dimensions: 74.9 × 132.1 × 81.3 cm (29 1/2 × 52 × 32 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Gilbert Rohde

Artist

Gilbert Rohde

Gilbert Rohde was an American industrial designer and furniture maker whose modernist approach to domestic interiors helped establish streamlined design as a defining aesthetic of the 1930s and 1940s. Working primarily in tubular steel, plywood, and lacquered wood, he developed furniture and interiors that combined European modernism with American manufacturing efficiency. His designs for Herman Miller and other manufacturers demonstrated a commitment to functional elegance and geometric clarity that influenced the trajectory of American industrial design in the mid-twentieth century.

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