Pierre Chareau: Modern Architecture and Design reconstructs the full creative range of a designer whose reputation has long rested on a single building — the Maison de Verre — while his furniture, interiors, fabrics, and art collecting remained largely unexamined.
About This Book
Pierre Chareau (1883–1950) occupied a singular position in the Parisian avant-garde: equally at home designing Art Deco furniture for chic interiors, working across the boundaries of architecture and fine arts, and collecting works by Picasso and Mondrian. This scholarly volume, published by Yale University Press, brings that breadth into focus for the first time. Essays by leading scholars address individual projects in detail, situating Chareau's interdisciplinary practice within interwar Paris, examining his Jewish background, and tracing his critical reception. For architects, design historians, and decorative arts specialists, it is the most comprehensive study of Chareau's work available — one that treats modernism not as a fixed canon but as a field of ongoing material experimentation.
Key Features
- 224 pages of scholarly essays, project analyses, and extensive illustrations spanning furniture, architecture, interiors, fabrics, wallpapers, and Chareau's personal art collection
- Essays by leading scholars covering the full scope of Chareau's invention, edited by Esther da Costa Meyer
- Notable works examined include the Maison de Verre and Chareau's Art Deco furniture commissions
- Published by Yale University Press
What You'll Discover
- How Chareau's practice dissolved disciplinary boundaries — moving between architecture, furniture, textile design, and fine art collecting as a unified creative position
- The role of his Jewish identity and his place within the interwar Parisian avant-garde, examined through primary scholarship
- A close reading of the Maison de Verre as an expression of radical material innovation, set within the broader context of his output
- How Chareau's critical reception has shifted over time — from celebrated furniture designer to modernist visionary — and what that trajectory reveals about the canon
About the Author
Esther da Costa Meyer is the book's author and editor. The contributing essays are written by leading scholars across the fields of architectural history and decorative arts. [Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 224
- Dimensions: 20.96 x 26.04 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780300277852
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architectural historians, decorative arts specialists, modernism scholars, and designers with a serious interest in the interwar European avant-garde and the Maison de Verre.