René-Jean Caillette (1919–2005) was a French decorative artist and designer, son of a cabinetmaker. His elegant and modernistic furniture designs were mass-produced after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(1939–45). His molded plywood Diamond chair is considered a classic.

Life

René-Jean Caillette was born in 1919, the son of a cabinetmaker. He followed his father's trade, creating furniture designs that were functional and visually simple. In the period after

(1939–45) there was increased interest in using new methods and materials for mass production of furniture. Manufacturers of materials such as

formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type species of genus ''For ...

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

, aluminum, and steel sponsored the salons of the ''

Société des artistes décorateurs The Societé des artistes décorateurs (SAD, Society of Decorative Artists) was a French society of designers of furniture, interiors and decorative arts that was active from 1901 until the 2000s. It sponsored an annual Salon des artistes décorat ...

''. Designers who exhibited their experimental work at the salons in this period included Caillette,

Pierre Guariche Pierre Guariche (1926–1995) was a French designer, interior decorator and architect. He is perhaps best known for the residential lights that he designed for Pierre Disderot in the 1950s, but he was also an innovative furniture designer and arc ...

, Joseph André Motte,

Jean Prouvé Jean Prouvé (8 April 1901 – 23 March 1984) was a French metal worker, self-taught architect and designer. Le Corbusier designated Prouvé a constructeur, blending architecture and engineering. Prouvé's main achievement was transferring man ...

Charlotte Perriand Charlotte Perriand (24 October 1903 – 27 October 1999) was a French architect and designer. Her work aimed to create functional living spaces in the belief that better design helps in creating a better society. In her article "L'Art de Vivre" f ...

, Antoine Philippon and

Jacqueline Lecoq Jacqueline Lecoq (born 1932) is a French designer who collaborated for many years with Antoine Philippon. They produced furniture designs that were modern, simple and minimalist, often using large glass plates as both surfaces and supports. Life ...

. In 1950 Caillette's work was discovered by George Charron, a major French furniture manufacturer. Caillette collaborated as a designer with Alain Richard, Genevieve Dangles and

Joseph-André Motte Joseph-André Motte (6 January 1925 – 1 June 2013) was a French furniture designer and interior designer and ranks among the most influential and innovative figures of post-war French design. Joseph-André Motte was born in Saint-Bonnet-en-C ...

, who called themselves "Group 4". They created simple designs using materials such as plywood, plastic,

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

, and formica to create affordable modernist designs for mass production. In 1952 Caillette was awarded the René Gabriel prize, and in 1962 won the silver medal at the Milan ''

Triennale The Triennale di Milano is a design and art museum in the Parco Sempione in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is housed in the Palazzo dell'Arte, which was designed by Giovanni Muzio and built between 1931 and 1933; construction was fina ...

''. He designed furniture for Charron until 1972. Cailette died in 2005. He bequeathed his estate to a charity.

Designs

Caillette was rigorous in his approach to developing and prototyping designs. He was always committed to simplicity of line, and was innovative in use of materials. Caillette remained fond of wood. He said, "I am the son of a cabinetmaker, and I still remember the smell of wood shavings in the workshop of my father." He said, "I consider design to be wanted, determined, thoughtful, and assertive." His 1958 Diamond chair was manufactured by Steiner. Caillette said of this signature design, "It is the most pure and the most easy to fabricate of my models in molded plywood. I designed it with a piece of cardboard, telling myself that if the cardboard could fold, then so could wood." The Diamond chair has been called an icon of French modernism. It was awarded the gold medal at the 1958 international EXPO in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. File:Caillette meubles 02 table.jpg, Dining table, 1950 File:René-Jean Caillette meubles 1950d guéridon.jpg, Side table, 1950 File:René-Jean Caillette meubles 1951b fauteuil.jpg, Armchair, 1951 File:René-Jean Caillette meubles 1957a chaise Diamand.jpg, Diamond chair, 1957 File:René-Jean Caillette meubles 1957b chaise Coccinelle.jpg, Ladybug chair, 1957

Publications

* * *

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caillette, Rene-Jean 1919 births 2005 deaths French designers