Designs for Utility
Mathieu Mategot
Matégot created the most striking part of his work … in the decorative synthesis of his various productions. Matégot was revealed as an exceptional decorator, that is, original and inventive, while fully remaining an artist of the period, through his many public and private commissions and his participation in the most important shows of his time. He took part in this renewal that, in those postwar years of reconstruction, guided furnishings and decoration towards a less heavy and rigid formal language than that of the preceding decades.” — Patrick Favardin
Perhaps no one embodies the freedom, freshness and elegance of the 1950s better than Mathieu Matégot (1910-2001), a versatile, independent and self-taught Hungarian/French designer and material artist. Highly productive over a period of some twenty years, he experimented with materials, form and colour both in his furniture designs and in the art of tapestry-making, which he practiced into the 1980s. Regarded as a key figure of post-war design, Matégot considered that metal could be perforated, painted, folded and shaped just like a simple sheet of paper or a light fabric, resulting in true sculptures in suspension. In the decorative synthesis of his various productions he turned what can often seem a cold, hard material into one that is graceful and airy. Inventing his own artistic language, whose key elements were “rigitulle”, a folding or undulating metal “fabric” (so thin that it evokes the lightness of tulle) which by means of a system of folds, enabled him to shape his perforated metal in space, as well as “ferotin” (in French fer, iron, rotin, rattan), a balanced blending of metal and rattan. A combination of undulating bends and curves, and perforations of varying sizes, imbue each work with a modern lightness and tactility. Considered one of the most significant figures of French modernism, during the post-war years of reconstruction, Matégot created inventive, functional furniture that has since become emblematic of “50s style”, recognizable by its elegant lines, balanced proportions and inventiveness.
“Copacabana” chair, painted steel, painted perforated steel, fabric (c. 1955) by Mathieu Matégot ©Phillips
“Satellite” ceiling light, painted perforated sheet metal, painted metal (c. 1953) by Mathieu Matégot ©Phillips
The son of a painter-decorator, Matégot was born in Tápió-Sully, a small village in central Hungary. Between 1925 and 1929 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Budapest, following which he worked briefly as a set designer for the National Theatre. After spending time in the US and Italy, he settled in Paris in 1931, where he lived in the Villa Seurat in Montparnasse, a group of remarkable artist’s homes and studios (eight of them built by the Modernist architect André Lurçat, brother of artist Jean Lurçat (1892-1966)). Whilst there, he became actively involved in the artistic circles of the day, counting the ceramicist Georges Jouve (1910-1964) and André Lurçat among his close friends. Still unsure of his calling, Matégot took up various professions, working as a set designer for the Folies Bergeres, a window dresser for the Galeries Lafayette, a women’s clothing designer and, in the late 1930’s, creating tapestries. In 1933 he started to create his first examples of furniture. He was one of the first designers to reintroduce rattan, which he wove around metal frames, a technique to which he would remain faithful. The Second World War interrupted his activity, and along with many foreign artists at the time, he joined the French resistance. Captured by the Germans as a prisoner of war, he was requisitioned to work in a mechanical engineering factory where he was assigned to metalworking. It was in this context that he discovered, for the first time, perforated sheet metal, learning the innovative Rigitulle technique that was to become a defining part of his design style in later years. Rigitulle, which evokes both the metal’s hardness and the fabric’s softness, involves combining metal tubing with perforated metal sheet. Like fabric, Rigitulle could be bent, folded and shaped, adding a weightlessness and translucency to his designs. Its very lightness made it suitable for objects and accessories, whilst its solidity allowed for the production of more ambitious pieces of furniture, such the table, hollowed out in the shape of an hourglass that he presented at the Salon des artistes décorateurs in 1954.
Table, painted bent sheet metal, painted tubular metal (c. 1956) by Mathieu Matégot ©Phillips
After the war, back in Paris, Matégot reconnected with André Lurçat and met Jean Lurçat and Denise Majorel — a dealer specializing in modern French tapestry — who offered up the successive premises of her gallery La Demure. Drawn to the “nomadism” of wall art, Matégot initially devoted himself to renewing his interest in tapestry, and in particular Aubusson (having met the master weaver François Tabard, who would execute his designs) but to earn a living, he began designing furniture. He used materials such as metal, rattan, glass, Formica, and perforated sheet metal in particular, to design chairs, armchairs, tables, sideboards, desks and other useful articles, all with clever, practical and amusing designs.
They were initially sold at La Crémaillère, a stone’s throw from the Madeleine at 5 boulevard Malesherbes, along with wooden carved pieces by Alexandre Noll (1890-1970), glassware by André Thuret (1898-1965) and boxes by Line Vautrin (1913-1997). Owned by Andre Renou, a former student of Louis Sognot (1892-1970) at the École Boulle, and his partner, Jean-Pierre Génisset, an ensemblier, La Crémaillère was devoted to discovering new talent. Matégot’s designs were an instant hit, with his outdoor furniture being used by the designer Jean Pascaud (1903-1996) for a florists shop (who’s doors were flanked by Gilbert Poillerat’s (1902-1998) ironwork and Guidette Carbonell’s ceramics) and his Napoloéon chair by Mague Rainal in a prefabricated house in the Île-de-France.
Following the immense success of this production, Matégot established a workshop on the rue de La Tour d’Auvergne, dedicated to experimental, handcrafted furniture and objects. He developed a machine that could bend and fold sheet metal like a piece of fabric, which was used to create a number of distinctive designs, such as the Java Table Lamp, Soumba Tables, Bagdad Lamp and Satellite Pendants. An advocate of small batches, he worked much in the same way as couturier (perhaps a hangover from his earlier career in fashion), giving his collections geographic names. His reputation as a key figure in twentieth century design was established when he received a Grand Prix d’Honneur in 1953 at the Madrid International Exposition. It was during this period he produced several iconic pieces such as the Matégot Trolley, the three-legged Nagasaki Chair (1954), now part of the design collection of the Musée des Arts décoratifs, the Kangourou coffee table (1954) and the Copacabana armchair (1955), part of the design collection of the Centre George Pompidou; three pieces that are especially representative of his work.
“Patte d’ours” ashtray on stand, ceramic, iron (c. 1951) by Mathieu Matégot and Georges Jouve ©Phillips
To ensure quality in the production of his own designs, Matégot opened a second workshop, called Société Matégot, in Casablanca, where he was able to broaden his production to include small decorative objects, like trays, wastebaskets, and magazine-holders. He participated in the exhibition “La Ceramique Contemporaine” at the Compagnie des Arts Français at the invitation of Jacques Adnet (1900-1984) and went on to exhibit annually at the Salon des arts menagers (domestic arts trade fair) and the Salon des artistes decorateurs (Interior decorators trade fair) in Paris, the Association Francaise d'Action Artistique in Rio de Janeiro and in various exhibitions held in Vienna, Toronto, Rome, Milan and Cairo. During this period, Matégot also designed a number of significant public and private commissions, in France and abroad: the Hotel de France in Conakry (1951), part of the Drugstore des Champs-Elysees (1962), the layout of the airport of Tit-Mellil in Casablanca, and many tapestries for Air France and the French consulate in New York. He would also collaborate with the master ceramicist, Georges Jouve, mostly on ashtrays and lamps, in which Jouve’s sensual creations pair beautifully with Matégot’s metalwork; the Patte d’ours ashtray is considered a masterpiece of the genre.
Matégot abruptly quit furniture design in the 1960s, moving to Angers and dedicating himself exclusively to the creation of abstract tapestries, becoming a pioneer of the French modern tapestry movement. Whilst undoubtedly influenced by the techniques taught to him by Lurçat, Matégot would develop a lyrical and voluptuous abstraction, that was a style altogether his own. Comprising no less than 629 original tapestries, his woven work received international acclaim, especially in the United States. His distinctive furniture style is interlinked with his deft hand with fabrics and tapestry, something that is particularly reflected in his treatment of metal. The whole of Matégot’s journey, from his discovery of perforated metal during the Second World War to his last tapestries of the 1980s, shows a rich and varied oeuvre, which sets Matégot apart as one of the greatest creators of the period. These revolutionary and innovative techniques he used in his designs resulted in a body of work that continues to inspire many modern designers to this day.