Arturo Pani Furniture
Arturo Pani has been called the Jean Royère of Mexico. Like the adored French master of the mid-20th century, Pani won an upper-class clientele who appreciated the vivacity and exuberance he brought to interiors. His specialty was using new materials to reinterpret traditional stylings — the sensuous curves and arabesques of the Rococo; stately neoclassical motifs — for a modern context. Pani's work is a thing apart: at once theatrical and distinguished, playful and grand.
Pani was born to splendid settings. His father was Mexico’s ambassador to France, and both Pani and his brother Mario, a noted architect of the International style, would study at the prestigious École des Beaux Arts in Paris. Pani made his name in the late 1930s by designing lavish interiors that belied the austere facade of his brother’s new Hotel Reforma in Mexico City. Mexico’s affluent class welcomed Pani’s technique for juxtaposing Mario’s sleek modernist architectural envelope with voluptuous decor. His style became known as the “Acapulco look” in the 1930s, when Pani became the blossoming Pacific resort’s decorator of choice to the jet set. Pani’s own Acapulco villa would become a favorite backdrop for the society photographer Slim Aarons.
Though Pani frequently created furniture along the strict, geometric lines associated with mid-century modernism — and did, on occasion, produce pieces with wildly flowing futuristic lines — his signature designs were those that offered an idiosyncratic, spare-yet-sumptuous take on historical forms.
Pani’s favorite material was wrought iron, usually gilded. With it, he produced tables with elaborate sheaf-of-wheat bases, or scrolling baroque supports; chairs with frames made of iron rods bent to suggest the sinuous seatbacks and cabriole legs of Louis XV pieces; or — jumping a stylistic generation forward — designs with Louis XVI elements such as arrows and chevrons. Pani’s work has again become chic. As you will see on these pages, like few others, Arturo Pani had a true sense of drama. Virtually everything he designed is a showstopper.
Find vintage Arturo Pani coffee tables, armchairs, side tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Arturo Pani Furniture
Travertine, Bronze, Gold, Iron
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Gold, Bronze, Iron
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Metal
1950s Mexican Hollywood Regency Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze
1940s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze, Iron
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Metal, Gold Leaf
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Aluminum, Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Stone, Marble, Brass, Gold Leaf
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Aluminum, Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Aluminum, Brass, Iron
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze
1940s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Walnut, Mohair
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Arturo Pani Furniture
Plywood, Beech
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Travertine
Mid-20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency Arturo Pani Furniture
Metal, Brass, Bronze
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Glass, Beech
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Walnut, Faux Leather
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Fabric, Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Arturo Pani Furniture
Walnut
1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Arturo Pani Furniture
Steel, Iron
1980s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Travertine
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Wood
Mid-20th Century French Neoclassical Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Iron, Gold Leaf
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Bronze, Iron
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Iron
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
1950s Mexican Hollywood Regency Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Marble, Bronze
1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Malachite, Brass, Bronze, Iron
1950s Mexican Hollywood Regency Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass, Iron
1940s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Furniture
Brass