On May 14, the Parisian auction house Piasa is dedicating an exclusive sale to the French designer Eric Schmitt, celebrating more than three decades of creations in which glass, bronze, wood, and aluminum come together in poetic and powerful forms. For the first time, all of his major collections will be brought together in one place, including unique pieces, prototypes, and artist’s proofs.
Eric Schmitt at home – Photo © Adrien Dirand, courtesy Piasa
“Bohème” (foreground), “Seau” and “Flambeau” (background) vases
It was in 1990 that Schmitt began to work with glass, thanks to the suggestion of Clotilde Bacri, then head of the Special Editions department at Daum, a historic glassworks. This first collaboration gave rise to the Possi collection, from which two works in bronze and pâte de verre will be auctioned. But it was during his travels to Bohemia among the Czech master glassmakers who carry on a centuries-old tradition that Schmitt developed a deeper and more comprehensive vision. Working in the furnace with them became a ritual, a complicity that has lasted for more than twenty years now and is expressed in increasingly daring shapes and proportions: large tables supported by blown-glass bases, true technical feats; consoles that seem to defy gravity. The contrast between lightness and solidity is a hallmark of his language.
“Coupelle” vase
Schmitt at work
Schmitt was self-taught: he forged his first works in wrought iron during a phase of “barbaric” expressiveness, as he would later define it. Later, he began to explore the essentiality of forms, developing a language of lines and curves that reflected the restlessness of the utopian. His objects are essential but dense with meaning. In his words, “a piece of furniture must radiate silence in order to be loved for a long time”.
At the furnace
“Chevalière” sconce
Piasa’s auction pays tribute to a timeless creator whose works – concrete and light, archaic and modern – defy fashion. As Jean Cocteau wrote, “tout qui est à la mode se démode”. Schmitt has chosen the path of timelessness.
“Hill” vase
“Fingi” suspension lamp
