The present lot was custom made for Mrs. L.H. van Groningen in the mid-1920s. Piet Elling designed the desk using square and rectangular sections of beech plywood and Bart van der Leck applied the color. Mrs. van Groningen was a close friend of van der Leck’s wife, Bertha, and their children attended school together. Elling and van der Leck collaborated on several projects together, including a home for van der Leck’s daughter and son-in-law in Blaricum, North Holland. Works of this nature, made in a collaborative spirit and with a total consideration of its formal and aesthetic aspects, exemplify the principles of the De Stijl movement, of which van der Leck was a founding member. The desk's geometric planes and restrained use of primary colors is also typical of the De Stijl style.
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