Incollect Magazine - Issue 3

Liss places Brazilian modern furniture in most of his interior design projects, up to 20 projects annually. He is doing a lot of work right now in beach houses and finds that Brazilian modern is “incredibly relevant” there, he says, “with the casual, minimal, and comfortable qualities of the design matching up perfectly with the desired simplicity of a beach home.” He believes Austrian-born Brazilian designer Martin Eisler is the most undervalued or under- collected of the mid-century top Brazilian furniture designers. “His cane works, cabinets, tables and chairs, are incredibly elegant, approachable, and very down to earth. The material is becoming increasingly scarce,” he cautions, “as the design world is taking notice.” Some of the designers like Rodrigues or Zalszupin produced a lot. But others, such as Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992), for example, did not produce on a large scale, so her pieces are difficult to find and therefore the market for each of these makers and their designs varies greatly. Recent editioning of iconic pieces has also had an impact. But in general, prices are escalating fast. “We are experiencing the greatest appreciation of modern Brazilian furniture over the last two decades,” says Marcelo Vasconcellos from Equinoctial in Boca Raton and The Gallery at 200 LEX powered by Incollect in New York, another important dealer in Brazilian mid- century modern furniture. “A production that came to be despised, or sometimes even thrown in the trash, literally, has now become an object of desire around the world.” Vasconcellos points to the value and importance of “extensive research” on makers in recent decades resulting in dedicated exhibitions of mid-century Brazilian furniture in art 2022 Incollect Magazine 87 Installation views from Peter Blake Gallery’s 2018 “Design Brasileiro” exhibition. Jorge Zalszupin’s “Presedencial” chair with Brazilian Jacaranda rosewood bentwood seat and arched, slatted back, circa 1959. At the rear of the image, a 1965 cabinet by Sergio Rodrigues in Brazilian Jacaranda rosewood with drawers and sliding doors. These elegant armchairs designed by Joaquim Tenreiro showcase the minimal and sculptural craftsmanship that Tenreiro’s work is famous for. Circa 1960s. Photo courtesy Equinoctial. galleries and museums and a “consistent literature” on the topic along with a few, more mundane changes such as “the professionalization of the international logistics sector in Brazil — despite numerous bureaucratic and fiscal obstacles” as having been critical in the development of the awareness and the market. He also credits websites and design fairs as important generative