Armchair by Pierre Guariche for Steiner, France, 1950s

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.

French furniture manufacturer Steiner is an internationally recognized furniture company that has collaborated with world renowned designers for the past ninety years, creating modern classics.

Charles Steiner was born in 1894 in Bucharest, Romania. He moved to Paris, where he was drawn into the principles of functionalism and the Bauhaus. In 1926 founded his eponymous furniture company in the Parisian suburb of Faubourg St. Antoine. He understood the significance of the modernist and functionalist movements and his designs were hugely influenced by Le Corbusier and Mallet-Stevens . In 1930, his Constance Chair which featured nickel-plated tubular legs, went into production. Steiner collaborated with the French Avant-garde designer Etienne-Henri Martin (1905-1997), and together the pair designed the SK140 Armchair (1937). Shortly after World War II, Steiner moved away from functionalist design, focusing instead on more contemporary styles that accentuated comfort and user-interaction, utilizing bold colors and curved forms.

Hugues Steiner (1926-1991) acquired the family business in 1946 after the death of his father. Shortly after, in 1951 architect-designer Pierre Guariche (1926-1995) began to work with Steiner. Guariche designed the innovative Tonneau Chair in plastic and aluminum in 1953, and the bent plywood version in 1954. Tonneau was hugely successful—it was easy to manufacture and inexpensive to buy. Steiner continued to collaborate with the newest design talents, which included René-Jean Caillette—whose molded plywood Diamond Chair (1957) was awarded the gold medal at the International Exposition in Brussels in the same year—and Joseph-André Motte, who designed the minimal 770 Armchair (1958). Other classic designs included Michel Mortier’s Teckel Two-Seater Sofa (1950); Pierre Guariche’s SK660 Lounge Chair (1953), Vampire Chair (1954), Amsterdam Chair (1954), Tulip Chair (1953), and Crocus Chair (1966); Kwok Hoi Chan’s Zen Chair (1969), Chromatique Sofa (1970) and Limande Chair (1971); Hugues Steiner’s Bow-wood Chair (1948), which referenced Alvar Aalto’s streamlined designs, and Ikeda Sofa (1979); Bernard Masson’s Equinox Sofa (1997); and Maurizio Manzoni & Roberto Tapinassi’s Mandala Sofa (2000), among others.

In 1960, artist and painter Gilbert Steiner joined his brother and oversaw the company’s design department. In the mid-1960s, however, he left the company in order to devote himself to painting. Gilbert Steiner's work focused on technical and functional models, many of which were for commercial and institutional use, such as his Rugby Chair (1950s).

In the 1980s, Steiner collaborated with fashion designer and brand Pierre Cardin, who designed various sculptural pieces upholstered in brightly-patterned fabrics. In 2002, the Steiner Young Designer Award was created to highlight the meaningful collaboration between designer and the brand. The Steiner Historic Design Collection, which boasts more than 140 major works produced by the brand since 1926, was exhibited at the Via Gallery in Paris in 2007; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Marseille in 2008, and the Galerie Pierre Bergé, Brussels in 2008.