The Petit Palais offers a new perspective on the work of Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999), revealing for the first time the role of photography in her creative process, acting as both a source of inspiration and a constructive component of her works.
Upon joining the studio of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret as an associate in 1928, she used photography as a study support for the design of furniture, then subsequently as a means of observation of the ‘laws of nature’ (mountains in particular) and of reflection on the urban environment. This is where she found inspiration for her research into shapes, materials and the arrangement of spaces.
The exhibition above all reveals her passion for objects found in nature while out walking, which inspired her creative flexibility and freedom, liberated from the rationalist spirit of the 1920s.
Charlotte Perriand pioneered the use of photography as integral to furniture and as a monumental component of interior architecture in the form of photomontages. This was particularly evident in the era of the Popular Front, underlining her political ideology.
The Petit Palais has helped to rediscover an artist aware of her natural and social environment, able to look at the world around herself, quick to defend her beliefs and committed to creative freedom.
The exhibition, covering an area over 2,000 square metres proposes 400 photos and documents and 70 pieces of furniture, including furniture that actually belonged to the designer. One part of the work is displayed with the permanent collections of the museum (free) and the other part in the Jacqueau exhibition hall (entry fee).
