Francesc Barceló

FRANCESC BARCELÓ BOVER (Son Carrió, Mallorca, 1926 - la Garriga, Vallès Oriental, 1982). for Muebles JAM.
Pair of armchairs "Model 602", ca. 1960.
Metal, leather and wood.
Measurements: 77 x 60 x 65 cm.; 35 cm. seat height.

Pair of armchairs designed by Francesc Barceló in the sixties. The design is ascribed to the post-war modern movement. It presents affinity with the so-called Safari chairs of Scandinavian design. They have a tubular metal frame joined by openwork wooden crosspieces at the corners. The backrest also has a wooden crossbar that holds the black leather fabric, which hangs unsupported from the backrest to the front upright. Leather sheets attached with rings serve as armrests.

Francesc Barceló Bover was a Mallorcan designer and sculptor who developed his creative work mainly in Mallorca and Barcelona during the fifties, sixties and seventies of the twentieth century. In the field of design, his activity takes place in parallel in the fields of furniture and interior design. He participated in numerous projects on his native island and contributed to the development of the furniture sector in Catalonia through various initiatives and collaborations, among which we would highlight the CEDI furniture factory in La Garriga, active during the seventies. In 1951, together with Jacinto Antolí, Francesc Barceló set up the Barcel company, which produced furniture and decorative objects made of wrought iron. In 1956 another aspect of Francesc Barceló's professional career was reaffirmed: that of decorator, with a professionally important milestone: the decoration of the Villamor hairdressing salons on Jaume III street in Palma, one of his first solo projects. Afterwards other premises would come like the Cafeteria Kansas, in the street Mayor of Felanitx, and the Bar Montecarlo and the Cafeteria Antonio, in Palma, among others. In 1961 he participates in a collective exhibition at the Galerie Craven and also in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, in Barcelona; La jeune sculpture, in Paris, and the May Salon of the Association of Contemporary Artists, in Barcelona. He is also invited to take part in the "Judgment of the Present" at the Barci-Club in Barcelona, which seems to show his public consideration as a creator. In addition to starting his own furniture factory (CEDI), which was presented at the furniture fair in June 1970, Barceló worked as a designer for various furniture firms: Mobel Italia, Armet, Aycasa (Basque Country), Mova (Valencia), Eurosele, Cimpo... In fact, he is registered as a member of the Association of Designers and Promotion of the Decorative Arts (ADIFAD) since 1969, to which he later (1974) registers as a designer member.