Martin Eisler

Born in Vienna in 1913, the son of the famous art histo­rian Max Eisler, one of the found­ing members of the Austrian Werk­bund, Martin Eisler studied in Vienna under the noted archi­tects Oskar Strnad and Clemens Holzmeis­ter. In 1938 he moved to Buenos Aires, where he imme­di­ately set about holding his first exhi­bi­tion of designs and furni­ture at the Mueller Gallery, which became the National Office of Fine Arts in 1940, in the Palais de Glacé. In 1945 he founded the busi­ness Interieur with Arnold Hackel, which sold furni­ture and objects designed by the duo, launch­ing his career as a designer. His work also took him to Brazil, where in 1955 he went into part­ner­ship with Carlo Hauner from the company Moveis Arte­sanais, and became Art Direc­tor of the company Forma in São Paulo. Eisler’s expe­ri­ence in Brazil aroused his inter­est in exotic woods and varnish­ing and lacquer­ing tech­niques on wood, glass, and bronze. Eisler’s two busi­nesses subse­quently began to work syner­gis­ti­cally, produc­ing furni­ture that was highly success­ful both in Argentina and in Brazil, which culmi­nated in him signing a contract with Knoll Inter­na­tional between the late ​’50s and early ​’60s. This led to his growth and estab­lish­ment at a time when the contract furni­ture market was at the height of its expan­sion, with the found­ing of the new capital city Brasilia and the Oscar Niemeyer projects, to which he contributed with great success. Also greatly appre­ci­ated as an archi­tect for his projects char­ac­ter­ized by their all-encom­pass­ing creativ­ity, which customized every detail, from build­ings to furni­ture, Eisler also worked as a set designer and opera direc­tor. His most famous design pieces include the Rever­sível and Costela chairs, which were awarded the pres­ti­gious Milanese Compasso d’Oro. The famous auction house, Christie’s regis­tered the first purchase in 1999. Martin Eisler’s furni­ture has always been highly esteemed through­out the world.