Pierre Paulin for Thonet,Desk Model CM141 France, 1953s

Pierre Paulin (1927-2009), is one of the iconic designers of the post-war period.

He studied at the Ecole Camondo where he was a student of the interior designer Maxime Old. Very quickly his desire to go further, to think of furniture differently, pushes him to get out of classicism. He then joined Marcel Gascoin's studio in 1953 and the same year, exhibited his first creations at the Salon des Arts Ménagers in the section “Le Foyer d'actualité today”. Its success was immediate and in 1954, Pierre Paulin began a collaboration with the German furniture editor Thonet, a pioneer in the design of mass-produced furniture. From this collaboration are born a series of chairs and desks, including the CM 141 desk. This piece of furniture of great sobriety, rectilinear, is the most emblematic of Pierre Paulin and the first desk designed by the young designer. Its characteristic silhouette of post-war design is still resolutely current.The black blade shows signs of use.

Its black lacquered steel base is made up of four thin tubular legs, joined by three flat rectangular section crosspieces. The melamine or black Formica top contrasts with the wooden box (oak or mahogany) with three drawers. Paulin marries new materials brilliantly. This desk will be produced until the end of the 1950s. For Thonet he will also develop his first monocoque chair which will open the doors to a collaboration with Artifort. He will experiment with the possibilities offered by new materials to change the way we look at the body and its relationship to furniture. Take for example the Ribbon or Mushroom armchair…

Pierre Paulin is also famous for having arranged the apartments of the Elysée for the Pompidou couple.