Every design philosophy worthy of enduring over time is built upon a lineage of contemplation. With this conviction, we inaugurate The Study Library, a permanent archival corner within JoverValls, conceived not as a passive retrospective, but as an active sanctuary of reference. Here we gather monographs, catalogues raisonnés, and primary testimonies written by those who were direct witnesses to the creative spark within the workshop. These are the volumes that continue to educate our perspective, reaffirming our commitment to tangible matter, artisanal discipline, and the silent dignity of the functional object.
 |
We open this library with the study dedicated to Diego Giacometti, documented by art historian and General Curator of Heritage in France, Daniel Marchesseau (b. 1947). For nearly three decades a leading curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Marchesseau was no mere academic observer; he was a daily witness to the tactile work unfolding in the legendary workshop at 46 Rue Hippolyte-Maindron. When Éditions Hermann published his canonical monograph in 1986, under ISBN 2-7056-6016-X, the work was conceived under the humanistic direction of publisher Pierre Berès, the same publishing house that had immortalized the foundational treatises of Henri Poincaré, Albert Einstein, and the Bourbaki group. Berès treated Diego’s hand-modeled plasters and patinated bronzes not with the superficiality of a decorative catalogue, but with the anatomical precision of a scientific treatise. Marchesseau, who had also been the decisive institutional force behind the historic 1985 commission for the Musée Picasso at the Hôtel Salé, delivered in this work the definitive record that consecrated Giacometti’s production as an inalienable pillar of French state heritage after the sculptor's death that same year. |
To understand Diego Giacometti is to understand a deliberate resistance to industrial distancing. Jean Leymarie famously celebrated him as an artisan-poète, an artist-craftsman who, with characteristic humility, insisted on defining himself simply as a bricoleur. Yet, beneath that modesty lay a sovereign mastery of structural balance that elevated hand-modeled bronze to monumental relevance. While the dominant voices of 20th-century furniture design, mostly architects, conceived domestic typologies through mental abstractions, technical drawings, and industrial materials like tubular steel or molded polyester, Diego worked exclusively through physical contact. His language sprang directly from the resistance of raw material: iron structural frames bent by hand, wet plaster modeled directly with fingers and spatula, and the ancient alchemy of lost-wax bronze casting. As Henri Cartier-Bresson lucidly observed, his creations are imbued with an unmistakable cadence, a timeless rhythm, an austere sobriety, and a subtle humor where birds, frogs, mice, and delicate foliage converse naturally alongside structural geometry.
His artistic trajectory unfolded in three harmonious movements, as outlined by Berès' structural analysis. The first was the silent, fraternal dialogue with his brother Alberto, where Diego's technical talent formed the indispensable backbone of their shared laboratory. The second emerged in the late 1920s through his decisive collaboration with interior decorator Jean-Michel Frank, for whom Diego sculpted visionary plaster consoles, sculptural reliefs, and cast bronze luminaires destined for the most avant-garde Parisian residences of the era, particularly the hôtel particulier of the Viscount and Viscountess de Noailles. The third and final stage began after Alberto's death in 1966, when Diego fully achieved his autonomous maturity. Here, furniture shed any trace of utilitarian banality to inhabit the territory of pure sculpture: tables, gueridons, and low chairs characterized by a severe structural clarity, upon which his particular Etruscan and Pompeian bestiary flourished, an organic mythology cast in solid bronze.
This trajectory reached its institutional peak in 1982, when Dominique Bozo, founding director of the Musée Picasso and later president of the Centre Pompidou, entrusted Diego with the comprehensive decorative commission for the newly restored 17th-century Hôtel Salé. Assisted during his last eighteen months by sculptor Philippe Anthonioz, Diego conceived an extraordinary ensemble of monumental bronze chandeliers, lanterns, consoles, and seating. It was a project that seamlessly dissolved the boundary between architecture and domestic sculpture, establishing a dialogue of eternal resonance within the classic French interior.
The Thread of Permanence: Diego Giacometti, JoverValls and the Living Archive
Revisiting the pages of Daniel Marchesseau's monograph is not an exercise in historical nostalgia; it is a deliberate confrontation with our own responsibilities as creators. Diego Giacometti’s refusal to surrender the manual gesture to mechanized convenience, his serene insistence on being an artisan-poet whose hand directly formed plaster, bronze, and patina remains the clearest antithesis to contemporary industrial obsolescence.
At JoverValls, our philosophy is built upon that same triad: the Nobility of Materials, Technical Mastery, and an unwavering commitment to Timeless Design. We do not design for seasons; we build The Legacy. In an era governed by ephemeral trends and disposable manufacturing, we choose the slow, demanding path of permanence. Each signature piece that leaves our workshop is conceived not as mere high-end furniture, but as a tangible asset — an antiquity of the future designed to be inherited across generations.
This dialogue between past and future defines the dual nature of our work.
We share Diego’s conviction that the integrity of a piece lies in its invisible discipline: the hidden weld, the calibrated tension of the metal, the tactile depth of an honest surface that gains character with time rather than degrading. This is our savoir-faire, Spanish craftsmanship designed with exacting precision for the world's most demanding architectural envelopes.
For architects, boutique studio interior designers, and private collectors seeking one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces or bespoke, site-specific commissions, we invite you to contact our workshop for a private consultation.