Beyond function and use, dream and fantasy can be powerful incentives for creation. During the years 1940-1960, designers such as Emilio Terry, Marcel Jean and Janine Janet, supported by wealthy clients, produced pieces and decors that are often unclassifiable.
At the start of the 21st century, this theatricality, helped by a fashion for major events and novelty, has recovered its vigour. For the Campana brothers, its source is in the combination of cultures and their Brazilian heritage, while for Maarten Baas, fantasy is at work through a filmed performance. Two masterpieces of the collection, André Groult’s chest of drawers and Marc Newson’s Pod of Drawers resonate, 70 years apart, as perfect examples of fantasy in human form.