Art spotlight: Chairs by Ralph Rapson

By MARY ABBE, Star Tribune

December 24, 2011 at 8:03PM
The new highback Rapson rocker
The new highback Rapson rocker (Provided/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Opening Thursday 12/29

Famed in Minnesota for his festive design of the original Guthrie Theater, the late Ralph Rapson was also a prolific furniture designer starting in the 1940s. His lean-lined modernist rocking chair with webbed back and seat is a contemporary classic that will be showcased in this exhibit. The show will include a vintage Rapson rocker, a newly issued highback version of the rocker (pictured at left) and a collection of Rapson's drawings, including designs for chairs that were never built. Visitors and online enthusiasts can vote for one of three unrealized chairs they would like to see produced. The family firm Rapson-Inc., headed by son Toby Rapson, has licensed Minneapolis-based Danish Teak Classics to produce a new chair, with production expected sometime in 2012. Voting starts Thursday and runs through Jan. 31 with a winning design to be announced at a reception Feb. 2. See a story about the show in Wednesday's Variety section.

about the writer

about the writer

MARY ABBE, Star Tribune