Mathieu Matégot (1910 - 2001)

Mathieu Matégot is one of the most famous French designers from the 50s. Thanks to his avant-gardist approach to materials and shapes, he particularly influenced design.

He is renowned for his innovative use of materials such as wood, leather, glass and Formica. He is the first designer who created pieces of furniture made of perforated plate. In 1954, he designed the Nagasaki chair which became one of his best-known creations.


Biography

Mathieu Matégot was born in 1910 in Hungary. He studied at the School of Beaux Arts de Budapest. He visited the United-States, Italy then he decided to set up in France. He began his career as a window dresser for the Galeries Lafayette (famous French department stores). In 1933, he started to design pieces of furniture made of rattan and metal. However, during the world war he enlisted in army but he was captured. After the Liberation, he focused his work on design made of transparent metal and founded his workshop in Paris then in Casablanca. In 1952, he exhibited his work during a show dedicated to decorative artists. He quickly met with great success in the entire world as a designer then as an upholsterer. Several creations are exhibited in very beautiful museums.