Hugues Magen: Vision, Taste, Power

Magen H Gallery has made its name with presentation of unique French postwar design by historical artists, designers, and architects of the type one rarely sees elsewhere. The unique objects the Gallery has on display were created by those who have been ignored, unknown, or forgotten by historians writing the narrative of art history. Magen not only identifies the lost design and its talented makers, but also travels the world to locate the material, and then becomes engaged in a long process of research, publishing, exhibiting, and developing the market. Once he sets these all up, he establishes the ground for these objects to become blue chips.

Let’s take Pierre Chapo (1927-87) as an example. The French craftsman/architect was a master of not only in woodworking, joinery, and cabinet-making, but also in formulating modernist, original, architectural forms. Interested in an honest approach to his materials, Chapo crafted his furniture of solid wood, and offered his work in a shop he established in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Despite the success and the gold medal he received from the City of Paris in 1960, his name was buried when the vague from crafted design came to its end in the 80s. Consequently, Pierre Chapo was excluded from the story of French modern design as has been told by the books. For the 2017 groundbreaking retrospective ‘Pierre Chapo, a Modern Craftsman’ at his gallery, Magen published the first monograph of the artist who admired Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Within two years, Chapo’s furniture pieces were offered by some of the world’s best auction houses, tripling the prices sold at the Gallery, gradually turning into blue chips.