Joaquim Tenreiro White Triangular Table

Price on request

Historical Design
1950s
Imbuia Wood, Transparent and Colored Glass

This table was designed by Tenreiro in the 1960s and produced by Tenreiro Móveis e Decorações for the Bloch Editores building. Tenreiro and Sergio Rodrigues were chosen to furnish the interiors of the headquarters designed by Oscar Niemeyer. At the time, rectangular tables were most commonly found on the market, whereas a triangular table dismantled the hierarchical and colonial approach of eating, offering a more dynamic environment. This illustrates Tenreiro’s approach to furniture, reinventing functional items with creative elements that deviate from a classical approach.

The combination of natural and industrial materials demonstrates the playfulness of Latin American design; the exotic Brazilian wood and its organic shapes are in dialogue with the painted glass top.

Tenreiro’s use of lines is subtle, clever, bringing versatility and lightness to his designs. The partly transparent triangular table top, a recurrent feature in his table designs, participates in creating this light feeling.

Literature:

A. Chen, The Monacelli Press (ed.), Brazil Modern: the Rediscovery of Twentieth-century Brazilian Furniture, New York 2016, for a related example pp. 100-101.

M.C. Loschiavo dos Santos, Ed USP (ed.), Móvel Moderno no Brasil, São Paulo 1995, p. 85.

Aeroplano (ed.), Movel Brasileiro Moderno, São Paulo 2012, pp. 48-49, 101.

Artist Biography

Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992) is often referred to as the father of Brazilian modernism. The furniture designer was born in Portugal and moved to Rio de Janeiro in the late 1920s. In 1941, he received a commission to create furniture for a home designed by Oscar Niemeyer for the writer Francisco Inácio Peixoto. He designed modern furniture that fit the Brazilian style of life, often using native woods. He continued designing furniture until the late 1960s, when he then devoted himself to painting and sculpture.