Maria Pergay ‘Between Ideas and Design’ by Suzanne Demisch

Demisch Danant

At a recent auction, after two of Maria Pergay’s 1970s steel chairs sold for seven times their high estimate, an observer told The New York Times that was “”the most exciting bidding of the sale, because it was fashion.”" Over Pergay’s 50-year-and-counting career, her sophisticated objects, furniture and dacor have brought her a following that has included Salvador Dal’, Pierre Cardin and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, but they have only recently gained recognition among design collectors, curators and aficionados. Maria Pergay: Between Ideas and Design is the first in-depth survey of the designer’s remarkable life and work. Beginning with the 1950s and continuing to the present, it features over 200 photographs of interiors and furniture, archival illustrations from her personal collection–most of which have never before been published–and a candid interview. The end product is equal parts authoritative reference, source of rare insight and aesthetic journey into the lifestyle of the cultural and social elite of the late 60s and early 70s.