Rare Books

"Maria Pergay Between Ideas And Design" 2006 DEMISCH, Suzanne

DEMISCH, Suzanne

[160] pp.

Demisch Danant

2006

10 3/4" x 10"

Over Pergay's 50-year-and-counting career, her sophisticated objects, furniture and decor have won her a following and an illustrious clientele that has included Salvador Dali, Pierre Cardin and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, but they have only recently gained recognition among design collectors, curators and aficionados. Maria Pergay: Between Ideas and Design is the first in-depth survey of the designer's remarkable life and work. Beginning in the 1950s and continuing to the present, it features over 200 photographs of interiors and furniture, archival illustrations from her personal collection - most of which have never before been published - and a candid interview. The end product is equal parts authoritative reference, source of rare insight and aesthetic journey into the lifestyle of the cultural and social elite of the late 60s and early 70s.

Maria Pergay (born 1930) is a pioneer of stainless steel objects and furniture. She has said that she favors steel for its strength and availability, among other qualities.

Pergay made her name in the 60s when she was approached by Uginox, a French stainless-steel company, to design small decorative objects. In return, she designed a collection of furniture showcased at the Maison Jardin gallery in 1968. The collection included two metal furnishings, the Flying Carpet Daybed and the Ring Chair, described as inspired by the spiraling form of an orange peel. “I was peeling an orange for my children, and thought how nice it looked,” Pergay told The New York Times. Her stool Vague (1968) is included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.

Pergay has been commissioned by Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Fendi, Christian Dior, Jacques Heim and Salvador Dalí. Better known on the other[vague] side of the Atlantic where her work has been exhibited since 1971 after a first show curated by Air France, the New York gallery Demisch Danant hosted her first retrospective in 2006. Her installation Metamorphosis was exhibited at the 2013 Design Miami fair.

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