Joaquim Tenreiro

Joaquim Tenreiro 1906 - 1992

Born in Portugal in 1906, Joaquim Tenreiro emigrated to Brazil at the age of 22. After brief studies in Rio de Janeiro, he worked as a carpenter and then as a project manager for the city's largest classic furniture manufacturer, Laubisch and Hirth. In 1942, Tenreiro was commissioned to create the furniture for a residence designed by the young Oscar Niemeyer. The Peixoto family home in Cataguases is considered to be the first modernist project realized in Brazil. Joaquim Tenreiro became Brazil's leading interior designer, designing and producing bespoke furniture for the new elite and for many of the public buildings in the new capital, Brasília.Tenreiro designed interiors in which he placed his most renowned works, which were also sold in his galleries, as well as customised furniture created by the designer. The lightness of his style, the quality of his woodwork and the nobility of his materials made Tenreiro one of the greatest designers of the twentieth century. In the 1960s, industrialisation and competition from large furniture factories took their toll on Tenreiro custom-made work, and the company closed its doors in 1968. From then on, Tenreiro devoted himself to his first passion: the plastic arts. Despite winning numerous awards, Tenreiro struggled to make a living from his art and ended his life in relative obscurity.

‘My role was to reformulate the dimensions of Brazilian furniture, which were very uncomfortable. I ardently defended craftsmanship against industrialisation, which is an affront to furniture.’