Erasure, Canonization, and the Art Institution

Charlotte Perriand and the Fondation Louis Vuitton

Project Overview

Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999) was a prominent twentieth century furniture designer and architect. Involved in the creation of the influential modernist group, the Union des Artistes Modernes, Perriand’s impact on modernism in both architecture and furniture design is paralleled by few of her contemporaries. She spearheaded much of the optimism of her era, looking towards new materials and technologies with the goal of providing quality, functional design to the masses. Especially interested in utilizing mass production and prefabrication, Perriand sought to eliminate elitism in design by producing high quantities of work at a low cost. She faced a difficult road throughout her career as French society in much of the twentieth century was based around gender discrimination. Not until the end of her life did Perriand begin receiving recognition for her contributions to the field of design, with the first retrospective focused on her career showing at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in paris in 1985, when she was in her eighties. During her early career, many of Perriand’s most influential designs were not credited to her, instead being credited to her influential boss, architect Le Corbusier. As art critics and historians begin to accurately historicize Charlotte Perriand into the canon of design and architectural history, exhibitions focusing on her body of work are growing more frequent and popular. The most extensive retrospective of Charlotte Perriand’s work was on display at the famous Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris until February of 2020.

At the Fondation Louis Vuitton, I closely analyzed the curatorial strategies employed in the exhibition. I sought to understand how Perriand's work was presented and contextualized. Throughout her career, her work was credited to her male peers and her influence on the field of design was minimized.

By studying the retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton and comparing it with exhibitions of Perriand's work at other museums and galleries in Paris, I sought to understand the ability of an institution to grant an artist entry into the art history canon. I wanted to understand why some exhibitions fail to canonize while some succeed in this endeavor.

Methodologies

I spent a week in Paris to analyze the exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. I also visited the Centre Pompidou and the Laffanour Galerie to see Charlotte Perriand displays. Below, I list the specific questions that informed my analysis.

·     How are Perriand’s pieces of furniture displayed? Are they given priority in the space? Are they original, are they reproduced, are they restored? How does the displayed furniture compare to other pieces on display in the institution?

·     How are Perriand’s architectural achievements displayed? Is she credited fully for her contributions, or are her successes linked with those of a more famous, male architect?

· Do the wall texts fully grapple with Charlotte Perriand’s history of erasure? Are the texts interested in the political undertones of her experience, or are they more focused on the formal qualities of the art? Do the texts link her body of work with political movements like workers’ rights and feminism?

·     Which sources are commenting on the exhibition? Are they famous, influential sources, or fringe sources? Are the sources writing long, critical articles, or simply sharing the news of the exhibition?

·     What are the critics saying? Are they aware of the breadth of work Perriand accomplished during her life, or are they newly acquainted with her designs? Are they surprised with the extent of the exhibition? Are they aware of the political context of both the exhibition and Charlotte Perriand herself?

I referenced these questions as I observed the exhibitions of Charlotte Perriand throughout Paris, which contributed to my understanding of the power of curatorial strategy.

Results:

In studying the retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the exhibition catalogue, and the critical reception, the impact of the curatorial strategy on viewers was clear to me. Retrospectives covering the work of Charlotte Perriand had been displayed in Paris in the past, but none had as concise and profound an impact on canonizing Perriand. Critics who saw the exhibition  grappled with the history  of erasure of the work of Charlotte Perriand. The text didn't parse words, writing explicitly about Perriand's contributions and the historical misrepresentation of her role in design due to the misogyny of her time.

Fondation Louis Vuitton:

LC4 Chair designed by Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, and Pierre Jeanneret

LC7 Chair designed by Charlotte Perriand

Laffanour Galerie, January 14th:

Bookshelf, designed by Charlotte Perriand

Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, January 15th:

Unité d'Habitation reconstructed interior

Personal Impact:

This project impacted my understanding of Charlotte Perriand, my interest in curatorial studies, my understanding of Parisian aesthetic and history. I will take the insights I formulated during this trip into the rest of my career.

Next Steps:

I hope to continue my study of Charlotte Perriand, but I also hope to study other designers and architects who may be excluded from the mainstream art history canon. I want to study what curatorial strategies may have lead to their exclusion, and what can be done about it for future exhibitions.

Thank you to the Keller Family for funding this project!

LC4 Chair designed by Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, and Pierre Jeanneret

LC7 Chair designed by Charlotte Perriand

Bookshelf, designed by Charlotte Perriand