Pierre Chareau 1883–1950

Pierre Chareau was a prolific architect and designer with a trademark vision who created functional spaces for modern living. Born in Bordeaux, France in 1883, he began his formal training at the Ècole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, later establishing his atelier, La Boutique, located on rue du Cherche-Midi in 1919. Chareau gained recognition in 1925 after his office-library design for the French Embassy was included in the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris.

His collaboration on the architectural masterpiece Maison de Verre, built exclusively of steel and glass, is widely considered the pinnacle of his career. Completed in 1932, the “House of Glass” became a prime example of modern architecture, emphasizing volume over mass, integrity of materials, and use of transparent design elements. While his furniture and architectural designs were rare and few examples exist today, his pioneering approach combined both rich and industrial materials with clean, modern lines.

In 1940, Chareau immigrated to the United States to live in New York, where he worked for a cultural attaché. He was asked to design the workshop of painter Robert Motherwell, later also designing the artist’s home in Long Island. Pierre Chareau died in 1950, leaving behind a legacy of modernist interiors, buildings, and designs. In 2016, he was honored by the Jewish Museum in New York with a retrospective of his work.