Swiss Mahogany Sculpture Attributed to Maurice Perrenoud, 1960s

Attributed to Swiss painter and sculptor Maurice Perrenoud, this sculptural work from the 1960s explores balance, proportion, and assembly through a composition of five interlocking elements in African mahogany.

Carved from solid timber with softened edges, each component celebrates the material's weight while allowing the warmth and grain of the wood to define the surface. Rather than concealing construction, the exposed joinery becomes part of the visual rhythm, with intersecting forms drawing attention to the act of making.

The warm tone of the mahogany brings depth to the composition, allowing light to travel across its surfaces and emphasize the natural grain.

Viewed from different angles, the composition shifts between object and architecture—suggesting a chair, a framework, or a monument without settling into any one interpretation. Openings and projections create a dialogue between mass and void, rewarding prolonged observation as new relationships emerge with everyperspective.

Maurice Perrenoud (1914–2007) was a Swiss painter and sculptor whose career was shaped by a lifelong exploration of how little an artist could say while still capturing the essence of the natural world. Working across painting and sculpture, he spent decades distilling landscapes, stones, seeds, and organic forms into their most elemental shapes. Rather than imitate nature, Perrenoud sought to reveal its underlying structure, reducing complexity into quiet, balanced compositions that feel both timeless and distinctly modern.

Whether carving stone, casting bronze, or creating abstract paintings, Perrenoud approached every medium as part of the same artistic dialogue. His sculptures possess the enduring presence of ancient artifacts, while their flowing silhouettes evoke growth, movement, and transformation. His paintings echo these ideas through rhythmic line, textured surfaces, and restrained color, reflecting an artist devoted to the emotional power of form over representation. Choosing a path largely outside the spotlight, Perrenoud developed a remarkably consistent body of work that continues to resonate with collectors of twentieth-century European modernism, demonstrating that the simplest forms can often express the deepest sense of humanity.