Pierre Paulin
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Legendary French furniture designer Pierre Paulin (1927-2009) bestrode the 1960s and 70s with his
recognisable and innovative style that instantly revolutionised everyday furniture. He studied at the École
Camondo design school in Paris, where his teacher urged him to join Marcel Gascoin’s workshop. There
Paulin took in Scandinavian aesthetics and gained great insight in the role that design could play in society.
Through the 1950s Pierre Paulin moved on to design furniture on his own and he began to experiment
with stretchy, extensible fabrics that could be drawn across a chair’s armature. He started successful
collaborations with Thonet France and Artifort, where the latter resulted in several iconic pieces such as
the Mushroom, Ribbon and Tongue chairs, all of which have become sought-after design classics.
A joyful modernist, Paulin’s low-slung pieces provided a new laid-back perspective on life and his forward-
looking, eclectic and sculptural approach to furniture design instantly caught the mood of the swinging
60s. The hedonistic, sinuous style of Paulin’s design also attracted the patronage of presidents Georges
Pompidou and François Mitterrand, who asked him to redecorate parts of the Elysée Palace in the 1970s
and 80s.
Widely recognised, Pierre Paulin’s innovative designs can today be found in contemporary art and design
collections around the world, from the Museum of Modern Art, New York to the Victoria and Albert
Museum, London along with the National Centre for Art and Culture Georges Pompidou in Paris.
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