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Lot Essay
cf. M. Vellay and K. Frampton, Pierre Chareau: Architecte-meublier 1883-1950, Paris, 1984, p. 312.
Exhibition catalogue, Pierre Chareau architect, un art intérieur, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1993, November 1993-January 1994, p. 39 for a drawing of this model and p. 171.
Pierre Chareau was an architect-decorator (ensemblier) known to create pieces of furniture of the highest quality. Chareau began his career in design in 1899 as a tracing draughtsman in the Paris office of the British furniture firm of Waring & Gillow. The designer worked his way up over the years and ultimately became a master draughtsman before leaving for military service in 1914. After Chareau was discharged from the army in 1919, he emerged as an interior decorator at the age of 35. It was in this year that his work was first exhibited at the Paris Salon d'Automne in 1919. From that year on, Chareau's work was regularly included in various salons and exhibitions. Through these exhibits and various social functions, Chareau became part of the artistic avant-garde in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1924, Pierre Chareau opened a small shop on the rue de Cherche-Midi known as "La Boutique", a place where one could go view his original pieces or peruse catalogues showing Chareau's interior work. Chareau gave special attention to all of the objects he created and spared no expense in the making of his furniture.
The chair offered here not only illustrates Pierre Chareau's mastery as an accomplished furniture maker, but also shows the artist's creativity as an individualistic designer who conceived innovative pieces with strong proportions that existed outside the conventional forms of the modernist movement.
Exhibition catalogue, Pierre Chareau architect, un art intérieur, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1993, November 1993-January 1994, p. 39 for a drawing of this model and p. 171.
Pierre Chareau was an architect-decorator (ensemblier) known to create pieces of furniture of the highest quality. Chareau began his career in design in 1899 as a tracing draughtsman in the Paris office of the British furniture firm of Waring & Gillow. The designer worked his way up over the years and ultimately became a master draughtsman before leaving for military service in 1914. After Chareau was discharged from the army in 1919, he emerged as an interior decorator at the age of 35. It was in this year that his work was first exhibited at the Paris Salon d'Automne in 1919. From that year on, Chareau's work was regularly included in various salons and exhibitions. Through these exhibits and various social functions, Chareau became part of the artistic avant-garde in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1924, Pierre Chareau opened a small shop on the rue de Cherche-Midi known as "La Boutique", a place where one could go view his original pieces or peruse catalogues showing Chareau's interior work. Chareau gave special attention to all of the objects he created and spared no expense in the making of his furniture.
The chair offered here not only illustrates Pierre Chareau's mastery as an accomplished furniture maker, but also shows the artist's creativity as an individualistic designer who conceived innovative pieces with strong proportions that existed outside the conventional forms of the modernist movement.