Joaquim Tenreiro

Joaquim Tenreiro
Inventing a modern tropical living
A prolific and gifted designer, Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992) masterfully laid the groundwork for modern living in Brazil through his furniture and interiors. Born in Portugal and trained as a woodworker, Tenreiro moved to Rio de Janeiro in the late 1920s and opened his own studio and workshop in the early 1940s. Introducing contemporary pieces that understood the past and embraced the future, Tenreiro quickly began making work simultaneously of that time and timeless. In the following decades, he excelled in utilizing Brazilian woods to their technical and aesthetic limits, playing with upholstery and caning for lighter and more ergonomic compositions, and reimagining how to complete architectural programs through furniture and art. Tenreiro truly understood his environment and his craft, giving the definitive tropical answer to the question of what living in a modern way should be.

Through his artisanal approach, Tenreiro’s output was relatively limited, primarily reaching a select cultural elite. It was not until the late 1980s that his work began to be rediscovered in Brazil, and even more recently, has it garnered international attention. As a result, much of Tenreiro’s vision is yet to be fully understood. Bossa is proud to present Joaquim Tenreiro: inventing a modern tropical living, the most comprehensive presentation of his work to date, offering new insights into his design philosophy, creative process, and cultural impact. We are deeply grateful to the collectors and scholars who have contributed to this showcase, which reveals the full breadth and diversity of Tenreiro’s practice and inaugurates a new chapter for him within the global narrative of design history.
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About
Joaquim Tenreiro (1906-1992) was a pioneer in modernist Brazilian furniture making. The artist and furniture designer was born in Portugal and moved to Rio de Janeiro in the late 1920s. Tenreiro refused to indulge in his new country’s parochial tastes and instead challenged his clients to appreciate more contemporary styles. In the early 1940s, he established his studio, and by the 1950s, he was designing furniture for modern architects like Oscar Niemeyer.

A forerunner in the use of rediscovered raw materials as well as the creator of a new formal language in 20th-century Brazilian furniture design, he drew on the lessons of past furniture-making as a vital source, not only in the mastery of technical and constructive solutions but also in the aesthetic experience, craftsmanship, and the cultural meaning of his production. As a result, his exquisitely crafted pieces evoke a refined coexistence of traditional values and modern aesthetics, firmly bound to the Brazilian cultural milieu.
"Furniture for my time and in response to Brazilian reality."