Pucci de Rossi

An unclassifiable designer and artist, Pucci de Rossi (1947-2013) was a pillar of the European art scene of the 1980s. Originally from Verona, after training with the American sculptor HB Walker, Pucci de Rossi created his first pieces by assembling furniture in recovered wood to make strange and unstable shapes, somewhere between a throne and a time machine. “My job was a game for me,” he says, “I cut out, I made, I invented.” His first creations, imbued with poetry and humor, refer as much to the minimalism of Arte Povera as to the neo-baroque of the Memphis studio.

Jewelry, furniture, sculpture, painting, Pucci's universe knows no boundaries, apart from those of his own imagination. Under his hand, the most modest materials are transcended and become creations that are as visually strong as they are functional. Regularly exhibited from 1985 in Paris and New York at the Néotù gallery founded by Pierre Staudenmeyer, he notably designed the Barbara Bui boutique in Paris, and even a palace in Venice. With exhibitions in the 1990s at the Downtown gallery, in 1994-1995 he collaborated with CIRVA in Marseille.

Shortly before his death, Jacques-Antoine Granjon, one of his most ardent collectors, commissioned him to design the facade of the vente-privee.com head office in La Plaine-Saint-Denis. Named Verona, the metal skin covering the facade, based on a drawing by Pucci de Rossi, today pays homage to him.

• 22 x 28 cm
• 352 pages
• 900 illustrations
• Paperback cover with dust jacket
• ISBN: 978-2-9155-42936

Text in French and English

Préface de NANCY HUSTON, romancière.

JEAN-LOUIS GAILLEMIN mène de front la recherche plastique et l’écriture. Décorateur au Palace puis collagiste, il s’est lancé dans le journalisme en créant Beaux-Arts magazine et L’Objet d’art. Il a enseigné l’histoire de l’art contemporain et du design à Paris IV-Sorbonne. Il est par ailleurs le coauteur des Décorateurs des années 40, 1998, l’auteur d’André Dubreuil, 2006, et d’Hubert Le Gall, 2013, tous trois parus aux Éditions Norma.

LAURE VERNIÈRE a partagé la vie de Pucci de Rossi pendant dix ans à Vérone, New York et Paris. Écrivain et photo- graphe, elle est notamment l’auteur de Rajasthan, le temps révélé (Assouline, 2015), Japan Express (Le Seuil, 2003).

LAUREN J. FISHBEIN a été l’apprentie de Pucci de Rossi de 1975 à 1977. En 1978, elle a obtenu le diplôme de maestro d’arte de l’Istituto d’Arte Napoleone Nani de Vérone. Elle exerce depuis deux décennies comme avocat aux États-Unis.