To celebrate the first fifty years of its history, Maxalto has invited the Dutch artist Patrick van Riemsdijk to add his calligraphic-style touch to the dormeuse Lilum in a limited edition of fifty. Numbered and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, these will be upholstered in a custom fabric reproducing this artist’s distinctive trademark style.
“In art as in life, you can find equilibrium in juxtaposition or in concordance. Everyone is free to decide whether Maxalto and I have succeeded in one or the other, but I think that the end result expresses great linguistic harmony.”
Patrick van Riemsdijk
The game of references between the conceptual universes of the artist and the brand also includes manual skill and it is therefore no coincidence that the choice fell to a painter. Just as van Riemsdijk’s paintings are the result of his talent with a paintbrush, Maxalto pieces stem from the skill of those who use and hand down the ancient knowhow of upholstering and cabinet making. These are crafts not art, but their inherent art means they participate in the eternal dialogue between form and function.
“It was the first time I had painted a piece of furniture and I decided to treat the Lilum dormeuse like a sculpture, one with rounded, almost bimorphic shapes, destined to come alive when someone sits or lies down on it. And it was there, in the curves of the sofa, that I found that three-dimensionality that this time I was not able to lend my painting.”
Patrick van Riemsdijk
Lilum 50 dormeuse, artwork by Patrick Van Riemsdijk
DESIGN ANTONIO CITTERIO
Lilum 50 is the precious limited edition produced in just fifty pieces presented to celebrate Maxalto’s 50th anniversary. The chosen upholstery fabric is a fine linen, used solely for this collection and transformed, thanks to reproduction technology finetuned by the company’s R&D centre, into an artist’s canvas for Dutch painter Patrick van Riemsdijk. Van Riemsdijk’s brusque yet elegant brushstrokes contrast sophisticatedly with the rounded shapes of Lilum, while simultaneously matching its totally lean form. The result is a further example of that successful synthesis of languages and styles that has always distinguished Made in Maxalto. Each piece in the Lilum 50 collection comes with a certificate guaranteeing its authenticity and uniqueness, signed by Antonio Citterio with the corresponding limited edition number.
PATRICK VAN RIEMSDIJK
Born in Utrecht and now living in Palma de Mallorca, van Riemsdijk was chosen for his brusque yet refined style, which creates harmony by juxtaposing the archetypal simplicity of the brushstroke and the sophistication of forms that recall shodō, the traditional Japanese art of calligraphy.
ART DIRECTION JUMA
VIDEO AND PHOTO FORTE
PHOTOS BLACK AND WHITE
COURTESY OF PATRICK VAN RIEMSDIJK
