Joaquim Tenreiro

Galeria Ricardo Varuzza Luisa Strina, São Paulo

Joaquim Tenreiro: Madeira/Arte e Design, Rio de Janeiro, 1995, p. 37
Soraia Cals, Tenreiro, Rio de Janeiro, 1998, front and back covers, pp. 57 and 76-77 (for the model in various woods)
Joaquim Tenreiro: O Maestro da Madeira, São Paulo, 1999, cover and pp. 11 and 30-31 (for the model in various woods)
Mobília Moderna Brasileira 1940-70, São Paulo, 2004, pp. 4, 6 (for the model in various woods)

Overall excellent original condition. This chair with minor surface scratches. The chair with minor expansion and shrinkage to the laminated wood comprising the back sections of the seat and lower portion of the back at the horizontal joint. The wood at the joints are slightly raised consistent with the aging process of the wood. Subtle changes to the coloration of the wood at this joinery as well, as seen in the catalogue illustration. Chair retains a slightly shiny surface, which is not apparent in the catalogue illustration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992) was born in Portugal and lived alternately there and in Brazil until he settled permanently in Brazil in 1928.  There he studied geometric design at the Portuguese Literary Lyceum.   Throughout the early 1930s, his proclivity for drawing and painting vied with his talent in woodworking, which he had learned from his father.  He worked in various furniture shops to support himself, and, as he later reminisced, "I stuck with painting up to a point, but gave it up because I couldn't stay away from the wood-working shop...What kept me going was furniture" (Soraia Cals, Tenreiro, Rio de Janeiro, 1998, p. 190). 

After working in several firms as a furniture designer, he finally opened the cabinet-making shop Langenbach & Tenreiro with a partner in 1943.  Their first store followed four years later.  Tenreiro's partner insisted on selling furniture in traditional styles, while Tenreiro argued for a modern sensibility, and, at the onset, Tenreiro designed both conservative and modern furniture for their inventory.  However, by the late 1940s, the modern movement had taken hold in Brazil, and when only Tenreiro's original pieces sold, the shop was dedicated solely to the new designs.  Amidst the furniture, Tenreiro also featured works by contemporary artists.  Tenreiro opened a store in São Paulo in 1953, further expanding his audience and production and cementing his reputation as a designer and interior decorator.  He continued designing and crafting furniture until 1968 when he closed his stores and moved on to pursue his interests in sculpture and painting once again.

Throughout his career, Tenreiro was at the forefront of Brazilian design, creating pieces to accommodate the newly invigorated style of urban living.  In speaking of his "Light Armchair," his first piece as an independent designer, he noted that it was characterized by "a principle to which [he] felt modern Brazilian furniture should adhere: lightness.  Lightness which has nothing to do with the weight per se, but with grace and functionality in space" (Ibid., p. 51).  This lightness set his furniture apart from much of the massive Brazilian furniture—both in traditional and modern styles—that was being manufactured at the time. 

Designed in 1947, Tenreiro's iconic "Three-Legged Chair," which was produced using two, three, four, and five types of wood, espouses this spirit of lightness.  Its tapered curved body with bold vertical lines resting on tapered spindle legs gives the chair a delicate and graceful appearance.  At the same time, it is a design of many contrasts.  Light and dark woods are juxtaposed to give the chair its inherently colorful nature.  Also, while the chair is distinctly modern in its design, it is made of traditional and native materials.  And although it is in its essence a piece of furniture, it is assuredly a sculpture as well.  When an example of the "Three-Legged Chair" was exhibited at the Modern Art Salon in Rio de Janeiro, the Jornal do Brasil stated in its November 25, 1961, issue, "there is Tenreiro's spectacular chair, perfectly crafted, beautifully shaped, on which one would prefer not to sit, in order to stand back and admire it for its own sake" (Ibid., p. 56).   Tenreiro spoke of the technical difficulties in creating these chairs—of  combining woods that retain different levels of humidity, dry at varying rates, and expand and shrink differently—but the success of the design speaks to his technical prowess as well as to his artistic vision.

Although much of his furniture was produced in large numbers, there are fewer of the more intensive "Three-Legged Chairs."  It is believed that only 15 examples of the five-wood chairs were made, and these are no doubt his masterpieces. 

-Victoria Rodríguez Thiessen