5 Arco Salto Icarus chairs by Arnold Merckx, 1988 collector's item.
Arnold Merckx was born in Franeker where he grew up in a family of furniture makers: his father and grandfather were directors of a furniture factory. In Rotterdam he studied at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences, after which he founded his design studio Arnold Merckx Design in Landgraaf. Since establishing his own agency in 1978, Merckx has worked for a large number of manufacturers such as Montis, Pastoe, Artifort, Extremis, Lande and Spectrum. In the late 1970s, Merckx began an intensive collaboration with Arco in which he played an important role in developing the company's identity. In addition to designing much of the collection - some of whose products are still part of our current collection - Merckx largely determined Arco's identity at that time. He gave direction to exhibition stands, photography and texts, but also to graphic expressions in collaboration with external graphic designers, such as Geert Setola.Well-known designs by Merckx that are still in the Arco collection are the Graphic and the Balance table.
The chairs Icarus are characterized by a special design of transparency and lightness very sturdy. Not many have gone into production and are therefore rare.
He has received several awards and recognitions for his designs.
One chair has been completely renovated, see photo #9 .Chairs show normal signs of use based on normal use and age (scratches and veneer pieces gone). One chair is glued at the bottom, see photo. The rest are in fine shape. One chair has no screws in the backrest.