Zanine Caldas

About

Jose Zanine Caldas (1919-2001) was a self-taught artist, designer, and architect, born in Bahia, Brazil. At age twenty, he opened an architectural scale model workshop in Rio de Janeiro, where he worked with modernist pioneers such as Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer.

In 1948, he started a company called Móveis Artisticos Z, with two business partners. They produced elegant and straightforward pieces in plywood at a price accessible to collectors' emerging market with an eye toward a modern style.

At the beginning of the 1950s, Zanine left the company and returned to his home state of Bahia. Inspired by the local craftsmen who carved boats and furniture from felled trees, Zanine began experimenting with carving large, sculptural works, which became the focus of his later career. Zanine wrote extensively about his connection to the forest and tried, whenever possible, to either use already felled trees or to plant a tree for each one he used.