Collection: Friedrich Kiesler

In 1942, Frederick Kiesler was invited by art collector Peggy Guggenheim to redesign her gallery Art of This Century. This gave him the opportunity to showcase his multiple talents. Kiesler's work was influenced by his engagement with art and architecture theory. Over the years, he came to the conviction that elements establish a correlation in space with their environment and create tension through interaction. Architecture, as an art or design object, can only be fully appreciated in its perfection when this correlation exists from the draft to the actual realization. Kiesler not only developed radically new exhibition methods for the objects at Peggy Guggenheim's new Art of This Century gallery but also designed the complete furnishings: the correalistic furniture and the rocker.

Frederick Kiesler was born in 1890 and studied architecture in Vienna. His first works in Europe made him famous and he gained recognition from the European avant-garde. In 1926, Frederick Kiesler left for New York, where he established himself as a designer, stage designer, architect, and artist. This versatile talent was also a sharp writer and critic, who enriched contemporary art and architectural discussions and developed his own theoretical work. He died in 1965 in New York.