“MEMORY” CHAIR DESIGNED BY BAHRAINI ARTIST RASHID AL KHALIFA BRINGS €4,936 AT HISTORIC HOTEL CRILLON AUCTION IN PARIS
– Unique chair designed and created by al Khalifa fetches nearly ten times pre-sale estimate of €500 –
“Memory” chair designed by Rashid Al Khalifa
As part of the historic auction of the contents of the legendary Hotel Crillon in Paris, Rashid Al Khalifa of Bahrain was one of 28 international artists, designers and decorators chosen to create a specially themed chair to be auctioned for charity.*
Al Khalifa commented after the sale:
I was deeply honored to be chosen to create a uniquely designed chair for this very special event — both because the Hotel Crillon is a place that has wonderful personal memories for me — and because it is redolent with Parisian history and the uncontested leader of Parisian chic and luxury.”
“In addition,” Al Khalifa continued. “I was especially honored to represent Bahrain and this region of the world and to share this honor with such a talented group of artists and designers from across the globe.”
Al Khalifa’s “Memory” chair, a directoire-style “fauteuil” originally from the Hotel Crillon’s gourmet restaurant, Les Ambassadeurs was cleverly decorated by al Khalifa with a collage of silkscreened photographs of individuals representing a plethora of cultures and walks of life. The whimsical idea of decorating the chair with a grid of black and white photographs depicting a host of nationalities, races, genders and professions was al Khalifa’s way of evoking all of those who might have sat in the chair throughout the hotel’s storied past.
The “cultural conversation” that takes place amongst the individual images was his homage to the unique nature of the Crillon as a hotel both redolent with history and for centuries the meeting place for many of the world’s most famous political, cultural and social personalities.
The auction was held by Artcurial (Briest – Poulain- F. Tajan) and consisted of 3,500 pieces of furniture, objets d’art and wine from the famed Hotel’s cellar from April 16th through the 22nd in Paris.
“Memory” chair (detail)
The Crillon opened in 1909 in a building that dates to 1758 and is nearly unparalleled in both luxury and history. Essentially one of two identical stone buildings on the Place de la Concorde, the Crillon was constructed in 1758 after King Louis XV commissioned the architect Jaques-Ange Gabriel to build two palaces.
*Proceeds of the sale of the specially designed chairs all went to the Association du Foyer de la Madeleine et du Samu Social — a charity in Paris that runs a restaurant serving the homeless and the poor.
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