Program February – March 2022

Disderot Lighting: Innovation in French lighting 1955-1965

Design by:
J. ABRAHAM & D.J. ROL
R.J. CAILLETTE
R. COMPARET
P.  DISDEROT
J. DUMOND
R. FATUS
E. FERMIGIER
P. GUARICHE
M.  MORTIER
J.A. MOTTE
O. MOURGUE
P. PAULIN
A. SIMARD
A. RICHARD

January 24 - March 12, 2022
Extended Until March 26, 2022

Demisch Danant continues its exploration and display of French lighting from the 1950s to 1970s through the work of the major manufacturers from the period. Following Verre Lumière (1968–1988), Monix, and Étienne Fermigier (1969–1973), we now turn to the most prestigious and avant-garde manufacturer of this post-war period: Luminaires Pierre Disderot.

The technical revolution that set the pace for the creation of mass-produced furniture since the end of WWII and, more precisely, since the end of the 1950s also affected French lighting. Lighting a home is a science; Once left to interior decorators, it gradually came under the purview of engineers and designers. The use of new materials as well as new manufacturing techniques quickly led to specializations in the field. In just a few years, what in the past had been a craft became a cutting-edge industry. It was in 1948 and within this context of innovation and industrial development that Pierre Disderot (1921–1991), a student at the École Breguet in Paris, opened a workshop and dedicated himself to the production of lighting fixtures. The then 28-year-old lighting engineer showed great affinity and sensibility towards contemporary architecture. This field was to inspire and influence his inclination towards modernity and to become the criteria for a new international aesthetic.

At the beginning of the 1950s, Disderot connected with Pierre Guariche, a designer whom he had known as a student at the École Breguet. A deep intellectual and professional compatibility instigated an intense working relationship between the designer and the engineer. They would go on to work together for a decade, producing over 50 lighting models, all of which were true technical feats for the time, and equally aesthetically successful. Pierre Guariche’s lights have gone down in the history of decorative arts as synonymous of French ‘Modernity.’

Michel Mortier and Joseph-André Motte, with whom Guariche founded the Atelier des Recherches Plastiques (A.R.P.), also joined in designing lighting with Disderot, together producing some 15 models under A.R.P., and then continuing throughout the 1960s to design lights under their respective names.

From 1952 onwards, Pierre Disderot attended the Salon des Arts Ménagers (SAM) and met with many of the young French designers of the moment, mostly fresh out of school and only too happy to provide models in the hope of being produced. His workshops saw many of the avant-garde designers of the 1950s and ‘60s pass through; among the most well-known were René-Jean Caillette, Pierre Paulin, André Simard, Étienne Fermigier, Alain Richard, Olivier Mourgue and Roger Fatus, all of whom produced lights exclusively for Disderot.

What these lights all had in common is a purity of line, a perfect balance linked to great precision of assembly and faultless functionality. Being a beautiful luminous object was not the primary purpose of Disderot’s lights; it was first and foremost about achieving a perfect harmony between form and function.

The quality of light was essential. Many of these lights were created from a combination of selecting the best materials and adapting it to the most suitable lighting fixture types in order to create simple mechanisms that perfectly projected and emanated light, so the source of light was concealed in an attempt to not to dazzle the user. The principal materials used for Disderot lamps were lacquered metal, brass, aluminum, steel, Rotaflex and Plexiglas. Lighting designs adapted alongside advancements in technology, particularly to new kinds of lightbulbs, which rapidly expanded in range due to growing market demands.

Demisch Danant’s selection of Disderot Lighting aims to highlight the best models from each of these designers; we tracked them down, researched and restored them over a number of years, in order to assemble a comprehensive collection of the extraordinary creative wealth of this French manufacturer.