Dutch Art Deco Modernist Armchair by architect H. Fels for L.O.V Oosterbeek, 1920s

This refined armchair was designed by Hendrik Fels (1882–1962), a Dutch architect and furniture designer associated with the Nieuwe Haagse School, and executed by the progressive furniture manufacturer L.O.V. Oosterbeek in the 1920s.

The design displays the disciplined geometry characteristic of the Haagse School: clear horizontal and vertical lines, restrained ornamentation, and a balanced presence.

A particularly distinctive feature is the heightened and black-stained termination of the legs (with a bigger height than found in The Hague School furniture by other architects) It visually grounds the chair while accentuating its geometric structure. This feature lends the design a striking modernist character.

The chair is crafted in solid oak with black stained details. Such contrasts between natural oak and darkened elements were used by Fels to enliven the linear composition of his furniture.

As an architect, Fels consistently devoted considerable attention to the complete conception of the interior. His architectural projects frequently included carefully designed furniture and decorative elements such as stained-glass windows. The furniture was often executed by the Oosterbeeksche meubelfabriek L.O.V., a progressive Dutch manufacturer collaborating with several leading architects of the period.

Fels’ architectural language belongs to the Haagse School, a spatial architecture defined by horizontal and vertical lines and cubic masses. The movement drew inspiration from the work of the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was further developed in the Netherlands by architects such as Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Jan Wils, Willem Dudok, and Hendrik Wouda. Within this context, the Hague-based architect Fels made a meaningful contribution to the development of this architectural and design vocabulary.

The present chair beautifully translates architectural ideas into furniture form. Its balanced proportions, architectural leg structure, and refined details give it both presence and restraint, making it equally suitable as an accent chair, desk chair, or part of a carefully curated interior.

A rare and characterful example of early Dutch modernist furniture.