NAGASAKI CHAIR
BY MATHIEU MATÉGOT
The Nagasaki Chair is designed in 1954 and is still Mathieu Matégot’s best-known piece. It was exhibited for the first time at the 1954 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs and, along with Arne Jacobsen’s Ant Chair (1952), is one of only a few three-legged models.
Highly graphic design
The chair is made of perforated sheet metal - rigitulle, that characterise matégot's work, and features unique details, such as the little stirrup that holds the seat and legs together. Both back and seat are curved and arched, similar to the form of a saddle and the overall effect is one of lightness. The highly graphic design construction is evocative of le corbusier’s work for the church at ronchamp.
MATHIEU MATÉGOT
Mathieu Matégot (1910 - 2001) was a versatile, independent and self-taught Hungarian designer, architect and artist who spent most of his life in his beloved Paris, where he for the first time settled in 1931 after finishing his studies at Budapest's School of Art and Architecture. In 1939, Matégot signed up as a volunteer for the French army but was held as a prisoner in Germany until he escaped in 1944. This wartime captivity was an important time, career-wise, for Matégot as it was here he was able to familiarise himself with the innovative material and technique, Rigitulle - which later would become the characteristic trait of his.