Pedro Friedeberg 1973 Wood Butterfly Chair From The Villa Arabesque In Acapulco

A one-of-a-kind Louis XV style carved wood with gold leaf details butterfly chair by Mexican artist Pedro Friedeberg. The chair is upholstered with a butterfly stamped fabric. The chair has the butterfly shape on the back and a set of feet on their legs. It is signed and dated 1973 on the lower part of the seat.This chair's provenance is from the famous Villa Arabesque in Acapulco, México, a beach mansion built by the Italian nobleman Enrico "Ricky" Apuzzo di Portanova (1926 - 2000), a prominently excentric Neapolitan marquis who failed as an actor but developed businesses of jewelry and eau de toilette. A friend of Mexican president Miguel Alemán Valdés (1900 - 1983), Portanova began building his Villa Arabesque in the style of Citizen Kane's Xanadu with the help of local architect Aurelio Muñoz Castillo. He required the help of many important artists to design its interiors; Pedro Friedeberg made a set of important bedroom and living room pieces of furniture.Published on Holtz, Deborah and Juan Carlos Mena (Edits.) "Pedro Friedeberg". 2nd. Edition. Bilingual edition Spanish - English. Mexico City, Trilce, 2023. pp. 172 & 174. Photo 15: Daniela Rossell. Untitled, from the series Ricas y Famosas (Rich and Famous). Photography, 2002. Pedro Friedeberg is a Mexican artist and designer known by his surrealist work filled with lines and colors, as well as ancient and religious symbols. Born in Florence to a Jewish family of German origin in 1936, his family moved to Mexico before the start of World War II. Friedeberg became interested in art during his early childhood. He studied drawing and read Architecture at Universidad Iberoamericana. His best known piece is the “Hand-Chair” a sculpture/chair designed for people to sit on the palm, using the fingers as back and arm rests.