Painting “Les Arcs” by Charlotte Perriand, France, 1960s.

Side table consisting of a thick and robust rectangular varnished top made of light pine laminate resting on a black metal frame.

Dimensions
Length 76cm Height 65.5cm Depth 53cm

Charlotte forever

Les Arcs are inextricably linked to an iconic signature of design and architecture: that of Charlotte Perriand, who dedicated her creative genius to a new way of living in the mountains. A pioneer of modernity, she devoted the last twenty years of her career to working within the collective that conceived Les Arcs, thus taking her place among the great "builders of France during the Trente Glorieuses" (the thirty glorious years of post-war economic boom).

Charlotte Perriand's commitment was the antithesis of any speculative approach. While the auction prices her furniture fetches today are staggering, during her lifetime she sought neither commercial success nor media recognition. History would decide otherwise: a desk described as "in the shape of a desk," dating from 1939, sold for €703,400 at a tribute sale at Artcurial in October 2017, while in May 2019, Sotheby's sold a Nuage bookcase for €372,500.

Perriand's architecture cannot be reduced to mere functional volumes; she designs a world in which artistic creation is omnipresent. With her, the distinction between everyday object and work of art is transcended. Throughout her career, her travels, and her collaborations with Léger, Picasso, Miró, Calder, and others, Perriand invites us to a new "art of living" where the visual arts play an essential role.

A free, committed, humanist and visionary woman, the architect and designer Charlotte Perriand is among the great female figures who have traversed this 20th century, being more than a witness, she was a leading actor in the fields of arts, design and architecture as well as at the heart of major societal revolutions. Beyond aesthetics, his commitments and reflections resonate today almost more than yesterday, whether they concern housing, the place of women in society, the environment or politics.

As you might have guessed, at Exakt Neutral we really love Charlotte Perriand. We love her so much that we built her a small altar in a corner of the workshop, an altar to Saint Charlotte, patron saint of those passionate about design, independence and freedom.

PS: When you see an LC4, don't say "Oh, a Corbusier," say "Oh, a Perriand."