Gazette Drouot - C apencheres

DESIGN THE MAGAZINE
Norma, Pascal Cuisiner provides a critical analysis of
each of the models referenced. In his view, the socalled
"kite" G25 wall light is probably one of the
most interesting lighting appliances of the 20th
century: "It is one of the world's very few lights with
three modes of lighting – direct, indirect and
reflected – using a single source, and it also has a
very particular, filtered light, thanks to the microperforated
metal sheeting." The luminous refinements
of Pierre Guariche did not demand a wealth of
means, but were obtained with elegant simplicity.
The same economy is seen in the materials: when a
tube has an important role, requiring a resistance, it
is in steel, but is in brass if it only has to conceal a
cable; lampshades are made of fabric when light
needs to be diffused, and of metal sheeting when it
needs to be more directional. Though widely illustrated
in the press, Guariche's lights did not find a
public: a situation shared by most French designers
in the Fifties and Sixties. Disderot, who also produced
works by Alain Richard, Joseph-André Motte and
René-Jean Caillette, picked up 80% of his orders at
the Ideal Home Exhibition, mainly from architects
and interior designers. So Guariche's lamps were scarcely
distributed, some never exceeding thirty or so
copies, or even fewer. Likewise, special orders were
extremely rare, and variations of the same model
only involved finishes concerning the metal, the
colours of lacquers and patinas. Guariche stopped
working in 1959, not due to a lack of commercial
success, but because he then turned to interior architecture,
enjoying a very full career that included the
Firminy community arts centre and the La Plagne ski
resort. His last light, the G54 floor lamp, could be read
as a manifesto: a simple Plexiglas tube maintained
vertically by a minimalist metal structure. A low lamp,
it diffuses its light at floor level, anticipating a lifestyle
that was to flourish after the uproar of 1968.
A genuine forerunner… Sylvain Alliod
I
To be published at the end of the year by the Editions Norma:
a book on Pierre Guariche's lighting by Pascal Cuisinier,
Delphine Jacob and Bernard Wauthier-Wermser.
www.galeriepascalcuisinier.com
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