Incollect Magazine - Issue 3

2022 Incollect Magazine 85 Brazilian woods and straw which he shaped and combined with astonishing skill. He “put his concept of modern furniture into practice,” Alcantara says, the “son and grandson of carpenters, he treated Brazilian tropical wood with mastery and lightness, characteristics worthy of his work as a creator.” His three-legged chair (c. 1947) is famous, perhaps even the most iconic work of the period. Damon Liss, an interior designer based in New York with a deep passion for Brazilian mid-century furniture regards Tenreiro as the greatest and most sought-after Brazilian designer of the period. “His work defies logic, it is so light and deft and yet functional. He is for that reason the most expensive and in demand as there is so little stuff on the market — partly given the limited production and partly people don’t sell it.” A Park Avenue apartment by Studio Mellone is imbued with the rich and soulful beauty of Brazilian Modern design. The “Andorinha” coffee table is by Jorge Zalszupin, a form inspired by the wing of a swallow — Andorinha in Portuguese — in flight. At right rear, elegant toothpick legs distinguish the “Janete” tripod side table by Sergio Rodrigues, circa 1950s. Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson