As part of its first session of the year 2021, PIASA presents on Wednesday, January 20th in Brussels, a selection of some of the most significant designers of the 20th century. Represented here by several wooden furniture pieces, Pierre Chapo has gradually risen to become one of the pantheons of contemporary design.
It was after his family moved to the Cher department that he first experimented with painting. But soon enough, through an encounter with a marine carpenter, the young man discovered woodworking.
He takes the decision to enroll at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in the architecture section. Fascinated by travel, he multiple stays abroad during his studies. In addition to Germany, which he discovered in the context of his military service, he went to Scandinavian countries before embarking on a year-long journey to Central America.
Back in France, Pierre Chapo continues to work with wood, mainly oak, ash and solid elm, which he combines with his dual interest in contemporary design and the know-how of traditional craftsmanship. After a few years, he opened a gallery on Boulevard de l'Hôpital, where he exhibits his works as well as those of other creators such as Isamu Noguchi with whom he shares a sculptural and organic approach. In 1960, as part of the Arts and Techniques of Crafts exhibition, his work was rewarded with a Gold Medal of the City of Paris.
Pierre Chapo (1927-1987)
Model n° B40
Estimate: 12000 / 18000 €
He develops the furniture workshop in Clamart and participates in several projects with various master architects including Charlotte Perriand for the station of Les Arcs. This collaboration will deeply influence his work in particular in the realization of coffee tables as illustrated by the coffee table model T22, called "Œil", proposed during this sale. Made of elm and designed in the early 1970s, the highly original shape of this piece of furniture reflects the inventiveness to which the designer had accustomed his clients.
Pierre Chapo (1927-1987)
Model n° T22 dit 'OEil'
Estimate: 8000 / 12000 €
He used the same material for the design, at the beginning of the 1970s, of this bookcase Model No. B17A, which alone illustrates the virtuosity of its author and the poetry of the shapes he creates. Pierre Chapo will thus continue his career also giving conferences in France and abroad whose subject revolves around the notions of cabinetmaker, carpenter, wood, tradition, creation and sincerity.
Pierre Chapo (1927-1987)
Model n° B17A - Special order
Estimate: 12000 / 18000 €
