Madonna relaxes on Newson’s “Lockheed” on-camera in 1993 "Rain" music video.
The 46-year-old futurist designer Marc Newson created his iconic “Lockheed Lounge” chair in 1986 and in recent years it has become the most famous pieces of designer furniture to ever change hands at auction. Last week saw an artist proof of the silver aluminum chaise lounge that previously belonged to the artist’s mother (and once made an appearance in Madonna’s 1993 “Rain” music video) close out the design auction at Phillips de Pury in London for a record $1.6 million, a new record for a piece of design furniture. The chair broke its own sales record previously established at a 2007 Sotheby’s auction when the chair brought in $968,000. Amazingly, the design world has managed to buck the sales slump currently facing the art world with resale values remaining virtually undiminished and demand for stellar pieces consistently high. The biomorphic chaise consists of a fiberglass core clad with sheet aluminum and riveted into place and it changed the Australian industrial designer's career. The handcrafted piece, one of four artist proofs which preceded a limited edition of 10, is considered a precursor to the aerodynamic forms Newson would go on to create using computer software and more advanced production processes.
