Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was trained as a cabinetmaker at his father’s workshop in Utrecht from 1900 to 1904 when he began taking evening classes in applied art and architecture. Also in 1904, Rietveld began working at the studio of C.J.A. Begeer in Utrecht, and in 1917, he opened his own furniture workshop in the same city.
Rietveld’s first items of furniture were made in 1918-1924 and included the Red Blue Chair inspired by the newly formed neoplastic De Stjil movement and the geometrical artwork by artist Piet Mondrian. The Red Blue Chair is made of reduced visual vertical and horizontal components, using only black, white, and primary colors.
In 1919 Rietveld himself joined the De Stijl movement and four years later he participated in the exhibition Les Architectes du Group De Stijl at Galerie L’Effort Moderne in Paris. During the following year, Rietveld designed and then built the Rietveld Schröder House for Truus Schröder in Utrecht. For the house, Rietveld designed all furniture, including the Schröder side table in 1922. From 1925-33, Rietveld ran the architectural office in the Rietveld Schröder house together with Truus Schröder.
Rietveld was one of the founding members of the Congrés internationaux d’architecture moderne (CIAM) in Switzerland 1928. Five years later Rietveld founded the Architectenbureau Rietveld in Utrecht, which he ran until his death in 1964 (except during the German occupation 1943-45). From 1944 to 55 Rietveld taught architecture and design at different Dutch universities.
In 1951 and -52 he also participated in the exhibition De Stijl 1917-1928 at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Venice Biennial, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Rietveld’s first retrospective was shown at the Centraal Museum Utrecht. In 1961 Rietveld established an architectural partnership with Van Dillen and Van Tricht. Three years later, he was made an honorary member of the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects and awarded an honorary doctorate by Technische Hogeschool Delft.
Gerrit T. Rietveld passed away in 1964, at the age of 76. His items of furniture are produced by Italian manufacturer Cassina. Rietveld is represented at several major museums around the world including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rehn, and the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm.
