JOSEPH SAVINA
Cabinetmaker, sculptor and craftsman of Breton modernity.
Joseph Savina is a Breton cabinetmaker and sculptor whose workshop is located in Tréguier.
He opened his Celtic art workshop in 1929.
His work is part of the renewal of regional furniture in the 20th century.
He participated in the Seiz Breur movement, which brought together designers, craftsmen and decorators.
The furniture and the workshop
Savina makes tables, chairs and furniture sets, often in patinated oak.
The design of the furniture and its execution may be the responsibility of different people.
An object made in the workshop was therefore not necessarily designed by Savina.
This distinction is particularly important in collaborations with René-Yves Creston.
It allows us to describe a work precisely instead of confining it to a single attribution.
The relationship between form, materials, sculpture and function is at the heart of this furniture.
The decorative elements can evoke Brittany and the sea without literally reproducing the old models.
Another collaboration: Le Corbusier
From 1945 onwards, Savina collaborated with Le Corbusier on sculptures.
According to the Le Corbusier Foundation, the architect imagines the forms, often based on his drawings and paintings.
Savina then translated them into the volume.
This encounter demonstrates the importance of workshop know-how in a shared creation.
This should not lead to attributing Savina's furniture to Le Corbusier without evidence specific to each room.
Pascal Aumasson and Yves Brand'honneur's research combines order books, workshop albums, and correspondence between the two artists. It reconstructs the cabinetmaker's daily activities as well as their shared sculptural creations.
Recognizing a work
A solid attribution combines provenance, old documents, and comparison with identified objects.
The type of wood, the joinery, the proportions, the markings and any possible transformations must be examined.
A resemblance to a "modern Breton" piece of furniture is a clue, never a proof.
Museum descriptions can also distinguish the author of a drawing from the cabinetmaker who executed it.
Key Dates
- 1901 — Birth of Joseph Savina.
- 1929 — Opening of the Celtic art workshop in Tréguier.
- 1945 — Beginning of the sculptural collaboration with Le Corbusier.
- 1983 — Death.
Sources
Ministry of Culture, heritage notice on Joseph Savina.
Le Corbusier Foundation, sculptural collaboration with Savina.
BIBLIOGRAPHYLIBRARY
Ar Seiz Breur. Research and achievements for a modern Breton art, 1923–1947
Jean-René Rotté
Breizh Hor Bro, Elven · 1987 · 203 p.
History of the movement and its research in the applied arts.
Reference ↗
Seiz Breur. For a modern art in Brittany, 1923–1947
Pascal Aumasson
Locus Solus · 2017 · New edition in 2023
An illustrated study of the artists, disciplines and achievements of the movement.
Reference ↗
Quimper Cornouaille. 1920s/1930s
Philippe Le Stum (dir.)
Palantines, Quimper · 2010 · 173 p.
Catalogue dedicated to Art Deco in Cornwall: furniture, ceramics and visual arts.
Reference ↗- Daniel Le Couédic and Jean-Yves Veillard (eds.), Ar Seiz Breur 1923–1947. Breton creation between tradition and modernity, Terre de Brume / Musée de Bretagne, Rennes, 2000.
- René Trotel, Breton Furniture: History and Splendors of a Regional Craft, Coop Breizh, preface by Laurence Prod'homme.
- Pascal Aumasson and Yves Brand'Honneur, Savina–Le Corbusier, from Celtic art to modern sculpture, Locus Solus, 2021.
- Françoise de Franclieu, Le Corbusier, Savina: drawings and sculptures, Philippe Sers, 1984.