JOSEPH ANDRÉ MOTTE (1925-2013)
Single armchair
Manufactured by Steiner
France, 1960
Steel, upholstery
Measurements
74 cm x 65 cm x 67h cm
29,13 in x 25,59 in x 26,37h in
Provenance
Private collection, Lyon
Biography
Joseph-André Motte is one of the most substantial post-war French modern designers. Reflecting a commitment to the idea that modern design could resolutely improve society, Motte remains a feature of everyday French life through his large-scale designs of public spaces throughout the country. Born in Saint-Bonnet, a village in the Hautes-Alpes of France, Joseph-André Motte studied applied arts in Paris as a student of René Gabriel, Louis Sognot, and Albert Guénot. By 1954, Motte had founded his own design agency and created the Atelier de Recherche Plastique (ARP) with prominent designers Pierre Guariche and Michel Mortier. Motte was frequently commissioned by the French administration to participate in grand public projects including the interiors of hundreds of metro stations in Paris. Additionally, Motte conceived of the design for the Orly, 1954; Roissy, 1970; and Lyon, 1975 air- ports.
Motte experimented widely with wood, stainless steel, For- mica, and plastics. The variety of these materials reflected a desire to humanize the spaces he worked in, particularly as the use of concrete and other typically cold substances beca- me fashionable in architecture. He once explained, “material is in charge, then imagination.”
Motte’s work represents the intersection of beauty and functionality in the face of an industrial society.