"Trees" by Pablo Reinoso.
Photo: Sylvie Becquet
Liaigre Debuts Pablo Reinoso’s Nature-Focused Exhibition at Paris Flagship
The creative—whose latest work features a theme of rebirth—has a personal connection to the design studio
Pieces of the sculpture are part of a tree that came down near Reinoso's home. Photo: Sylvie Becquet
The beautiful townhouse at 77 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is rather more than a showroom for the elegant designs of Christian Liaigre. Since it opened in 2018, it has also hosted a number of art exhibitions, with large-scale works installed on its daylit top floor, while smaller pieces are intermingled with the Liaigre furniture on the two floors below. “Many of our clients like to discover art in a more domestic setting,” says the in-house curator, Carlos Sicilia.
Currently on show is a series by Pablo Reinoso, a Franco-Argentinian artist who has been a Paris resident since 1978. “But there is a stronger link,” says Sicilia. “Pablo told me that in 1991, a collector who was buying one of his works connected him to the interior designer who was renovating his apartment in Boulevard Saint Germain. And that was the first time he met Christian.” Now, on the 3rd floor of 77 Saint Honoré, Reinoso’s heroic sculpture Augmented Tree, from 2019, is on display in the building’s 5-meter high gallery space.
Smaller sculptures are displayed throughout the studio. Photo: Sylvie Becquet
Reinoso’s work often questions the balance between man and nature. He casts branches in bronze and refashions them into tree-like forms with connecting steel parts. “It symbolizes the human interventions that we make into nature,” says Sicilia. The Augmented Tree, though, is more an act of rebirth. Its parts come from a tree that was taken down in a storm, near the artist’s studio south of Paris, and he has recreated its remains into a partial reconstruction. Now the sculpture occupies the space with a fierce energy–nature brought back to life.
Reinoso explores the balance between man and nature. Photo: Sylvie Becquet
The artist casts branches in bronze and refashions them into tree-like forms. Photo: Sylvie Becquet
On the first and second floors, Liaigre’s furniture–in fine hard wood and luxurious fabrics–is arranged in domestically scaled and decorated rooms. Here are smaller sculptures by Reinoso where fine steel tendrils curl up from bronze bases.
Christian Liaigre died in 2020, in his late 70s, having left a significant imprint on the development of high-end interiors. He was also an aesthete who collected art and antiques. Since his death, the worlds of art and design have come closer together. “Now interior designers position themselves in the artworld,” says Sicilia. “There is a greater intersection between interiors and art, with a common group of clients. I hope I’m helping to build this bridge, too.”
Cover: "Trees" by Pablo Reinoso.
Photo: Sylvie Becquet
