Celebrated for his sculptures and architecture, José Zanine Caldas places aesthetics and beauty at the heart of a profound reflection on ecology. The ‘Tronco’ table (lot 30), made around 1965, is a perfect illustration of this.
The ‘Tronco’ table (lot 30) is an artistic and militant manifesto. A ‘Móveis Denúncia’, a piece of protest furniture. Landscape designer, architect (or rather builder), teacher and creator of ‘utilitarian sculptures’, José Zanine Caldas is a committed activist in the service of ecology. In the catalogue for the exhibition ‘Zanine - l'architecte et la forêt’ (Zanine - the architect and the forest) organised by the Festival d'Automne and the Union des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in 1989, the Brazilian art critic Roberto Pontual described him as ‘an artist at heart and a humanist in every sense of the word’.
His approach is expressed in the form of a credo: ‘At the very beginning, it's the landscape that counts. Everything else flows from that. The house must be linked to everything around it, without distorting or violating it. It must appear as if it has always existed’. The artist's awareness of the ecological emergency was born in the mid-1960s, after the coup d'état of the military junta in Brazil. The country embarked on a totally unbridled market economy, with no limits. A native of the Bahia region, he witnessed the ravages of deforestation. He joined forces with local fishermen and farmers in a peaceful struggle to raise awareness among Brazilians, particularly the ruling class, who disliked the rebel but loved his creations.
Zanine Caldas travels the devastated forest to collect the wood scraps left behind by the lumberjacks. His approach is simple: to make furniture ‘by following the direction that the wood takes’. The material was reborn as a decorative element in the home. The artist poetically reveals its sculptural dimension, almost eclipsing its natural beauty. According to Roberto Pontual, each object becomes ‘a living organism in which every detail, no matter how small, plays an indispensable active role’. The ‘Tronco’ table (lot 30) in the sale is from the personal collection of José Zanine Caldas.
Our next auction selection is composed of other beautiful pieces by José Zanine Caldas, further showcasing his unique vision and commitment to ecological design. Among these is the ‘Banc dit 'Denuncia' Pequi’ (Lot 35), created between 1970 and 1980, a powerful statement piece in the artist’s exploration of sustainable materials and protest furniture. Additionally, we present a striking ‘Console Péqui’ (Lot 34), a refined and sculptural piece from the same period, stamped with the artist’s signature. Both of these works are part of private collections, with the ‘Console Péqui’ having been previously featured in the prestigious publication Movel Brasileiro Moderno and exhibited in Brazil. These lots, with their deep connection to nature and craftsmanship, are testaments to Zanine Caldas' enduring legacy.
