Eric Schmitt

“My work is the consequence of the sculptor that I almost am, the architect that I would have liked to be and the designer that I am not quite.” This is how Eric Schmitt defines himself.
Self-taught, having long forged his own pieces and with an experience that enables him to engage in an informed dialogue with the best craftsmen and craftswomen to take the search for new forms even further, Eric Schmitt understands with ingenuity the possibilities and constraints of materials.

Dexterously reconciling expertise from the French tradition of decorative arts and a resolutely contemporary approach to design, he works with materials of unalterable grace that span the ages, such as bronze, alabaster or Bohemian glass, not hesitating to combine them with synthetic materials, such as Corian or anodized aluminum, which have become new classics for him. Over time, he got rid of the garrulous ornaments of his beginnings, simplifying the lines until he reached a vocabulary of forms which makes the objects difficult to date.

“A piece of furniture needs to emanate silence so that we love it for a long time,” says Eric Schmitt, who is content to show rather than demonstrate. Edition pieces, limited series or unique pieces all go through the workshop for finishing touches and the designer's signature.

• 22 x 28 cm
• 320 pages
• 400 illustrations
• Hardcover
• ISBN: 978-2-9155-42745

Text in French and English

PIERRE DOZE est critique et journaliste. Il a suivi des études de droit et de sociologie des médias. Après huit années passées à Moscou à développer des magazines culturels, il collabore avec le designer Philippe Starck.

Journaliste au magazine Intramuros, il est l’auteur de nombreux ouvrages, notamment sur les designers David Dubois, Wieki Somers, Robert Stadler, Philippe Starck, Big Game et Bless, ou plus récemment Stefan Diez, Konstantin Grcic, Christian Ghion et Pierre Staudenmeyer. Il a participé à l’ouvrage collectif Les Années Staudenmeyer (Norma, 2009).