Life of creation

About this book

"French designer Charlotte Perriand had quite a lifetime to remember. From the very beginning of her career, Perriand was celebrated as one of the most exceptional talents of her generation - not to mention one of the "prettiest," as journalists of the time couldn't help noting." "Perriand's capacity to conceive and execute the most ambitious of interiors projects (among them, the vast French ski resort at Les Arcs and the "espace the" in the UNESCO garden in Paris) was matched only by her capacity for friendship. Among her wide circle of intimate friends were some of the most innovative artists and designers of the twentieth century: Jean Prouve, Fernand Leger, Jose Luis Sert, Pablo Picasso, Walter Gropius, Sori Yanagi, Pierre Jeanneret, and, of course, Le Corbusier. Illustrated with dozens of her own photographs, Perriand's fascinating memoir documents her personal and professional relationships as well as her experiences in Russia, South America, and particularly the Far East, where she discovered an affinity for forms that profoundly influenced her work." "When Charlotte Perriand died in 1999 at the age of ninety-six, she left behind not only a legacy of design known for its beauty and integrity, but also her own story - a firsthand account of the birth of the modern movement. It is a story that charts the arc of a life and the arc of the twentieth century itself."--Jacket.