Ralph Pucci Brings Sculptural Plasterglass Works to Château La Coste
A spectacular show of white-on-white furniture at the French vineyard’s Oscar Niemeyer pavilion honors Pucci’s hands-on design approach—and toasts a few major milestones
Shortly after Ralph Pucci and his son, Michael, landed in Marseille, the venerable gallerist ordered a car from his hotel. “They asked if someone could ride with me, and he insisted on paying,” Pucci recalls. That unexpected guest turned out to be Paddy McKillen, the Irish property magnate who masterminded Château La Coste, the sprawling Aix-en-Provence arts destination where monumental sculptures and pavilions by Pritzker Prize laureates gently disrupt a rambling countryside blanketed by vineyards, chestnut forests, and olive-tree fields. In that 40-minute carpool, the two art-world powerhouses found kindred spirits. “He used to be the owner of Claridge’s and the Connaught Hotel, and he had worked with many of my designers,” Pucci recalls; McKillen soon visited his gallery in Los Angeles and was “blown away” by its program.
A collaboration was clearly brewing. That was seven years ago, right as Château La Coste was breaking ground on Oscar Niemeyer’s final building, a curved glass-fronted pavilion that sits in perfect harmony among the idyllic Provençal hills. The structure’s contemplative minimalism and architectural purity, they realized, beautifully complement the covetable furnishings being created at Pucci’s in-house workshop using plasterglass, a proprietary material that mimics the appearance of plaster while retaining traces of the maker’s hand. “When I saw the natural light flooding into the Niemeyer building,” Pucci says, “I knew what I wanted my presentation to be.”
That lightbulb moment led to the creation of “Pure,” a newly opened exhibition of sculptural plasterglass works situated within the pavilion. Punctuating its heavenly interior are unique pieces by 13 renowned artists and designers on Pucci’s prestigious roster—Patrick Naggar, Eric Schmitt, John Koga, Paul Mathieu, and Elizabeth Garouste among them—rendered in a pristine white devoid of ornamentation. The objects, many situated on wooden crates, will be situated to complement and accentuate the scale and form of its neighbors. “Everything will be graphically arranged,” Pucci says. “It’s not about sofas next to coffee tables. This is a sculpture show.”
It’s also a show that reveals how the pieces come together. To celebrate the exhibition’s opening and closing dates, Ralph Pucci’s longtime master sculptor, Michael Evert, will conduct live sessions so visitors can get an inside look at the plasterglass sculpting process; all works will be available for purchase on-site. Normally, at the New York gallery, visitors can catch glimpses of Pucci’s artisans working on furniture in various stages of development; it’s believed to be the world’s only design gallery to make and sell furniture on-site. “They’re blown away by seeing artists sculpting in clay and plaster,” says Pucci, who views plaster and bronze as the most beautiful materials. “It’s something they’ve only seen in books and movies.” That energy and experience, he realized, had to be part of the show, and it will be immortalized in a book called Process that documents how the pieces were made.
As did another Pucci staple. Like at his galleries in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, a free-flowing jazz soundtrack will play on constant repeat. The playlist honors the adventurous artistry of Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Chet Baker, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and other greats from the 1950s, when the gallery was founded as a mannequin workshop by Pucci’s parents, Nick and Lee. “That era was pure and experimental,” he says, emphasizing the link to the show’s title and the dreamlike atmosphere it creates. “The presentation is simple and clean. To see a room filled with white plaster, with sun beaming through it, all on wooden crates—it’s like a beautiful warehouse.”
“Pure” also marks a major milestone for the gallery: 70 years in business and 50 years since Pucci took the helm. Mannequins remained one of the venture’s key cornerstones for decades, but Pucci introduced furnishings in 1989 after the French interior designer Andrée Putman created a mannequin for him and suggested he represent her pieces in the United States. Since then, the gallery has emerged as one of the country’s preeminent collectible design dealers and only the fourth to present an exhibition at the Château. “I’ve worked with so many amazing people—Putman, Christy Turlington, Kenny Scharf, Ruben Toledo—but this is something I will truly cherish,” Pucci says. “I’ve always celebrated art in all its forms, whether that’s in music, painting, photography, dance, sculpture, or architecture, and this show is an exciting opportunity to bring that together. I’m over the moon.”
“Pure” will be on view at Château La Coste until September 21, 2025.
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2025 Summer Issue in the “Artful Life” section. Subscribe to the magazine.