Cellulose Pendant Lamp from Atelier De Recherche Plastique & Rotaflex, 1950s

Born in France in 1925, Joseph-André Motte studied at the École des Arts Appliqués, where he graduated at the top of his class. Along with contemporaries Pierre Guariche, Michel Mortier, René Jean Caillette, and Pierre Paulin, Motte was instrumental in formulating the French take on Modernism in the post-war era, favoring industrial materials and experimental forms over the traditional decorative arts approach to furniture design.

Motte’s career was marked by a number of prestigious commissions; interiors and furnishings for the Orly and Roissy airports, the Musée du Louvre, and the Préfecture du Val d’Oise. His iconic furniture designs include the Tripod Chair and the Presidential Desk. Though Motte pioneered a contemporary aesthetic, his work reveals the time-honored French allegiance to elegance and urbane living.

Midcentury French designer Pierre Guariche was born into a family of goldsmiths in Paris in 1926. He studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris under René Gabriel, graduating in 1949. Next he worked in the studio of Marcel Gascoin, one of his former professors, and joined the Union des Artistes Moderns (UAM), a collective dedicated to the promotion of progressive design principles founded by Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1929. Through the UAM, Guariche was able to experiment with materials and forms and exhibit his work at the Salon des Arts Ménagers and the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs.

Guariche’s work was soon noticed and put in production by Galerie MAI, Pierre Disderot’s lighting company, and the newly formed Airborne brand—which began editing Guariche’s Prefacto Series in 1951. That same year, Guariche began designing for Steiner—a collaboration that led to Guariche’s famous Tulipe Chair (1953), Vampire Chair (1954), and Amsterdam/Tonneau Chair (1954).

In 1954, Pierre Guariche founded the Ateliers de Recherche Plastique (ARP) in collaboration with his two designer friends, Michel Mortier (1925-2015) and Joseph-André Motte (1925-2013). The trio had met while interning with Gascoin, and together they created a range of modernist, affordable furniture for Huchers Minvielle and others.

In 1957, Guariche became the artistic director for Belgian manufacturer Meurop, where his work embraced more biomorphic silhouettes, as in the Mars Armchair (1965), Jupiter Armchair (1966), and Luna Armchair (1967).

By the late 50’s, Guariche focused increasingly on public and private commissions, like La Plagne and Courchevel winter resorts in France.

Guariche was awarded the René Gabriel prize in 1965. He passed away in 1995.