CULTURE

Modernism Across Oceans: Jorge Zalszupin Between Warsaw and São Paulo

For the first time in Europe, the works of Jorge (Jerzy) Zalszupin — one of the masters of Brazilian modernism — are on view in Warsaw. The exhibition at the Gawroński Villa presents designs that balance precision with warmth.

Sia P.

07 Sep 2025 — 4 min read

Warsaw - São Paulo - Warsaw exhibition. Photo: Warsawslook

A modern language, born anew

Modernism was more than just a style — it was a way of rethinking life. In mid-20th-century Brazil, modernism carried a unique warmth: clarity of form met the sensuality of tropical materials, concrete was softened by wood, and strict geometry found rhythm in handcraft. This was Brazilian modernism — cosmopolitan and alive.

While it was taking shape, one of its masters began life not under the sun of São Paulo, but in Warsaw — a city of different light and rhythm.

His armchairs and tables stand today in galleries, collectors’ homes, and museums as timeless icons of 20th-century design.

From Warsaw to Brazil: the making of a modernist

His armchairs and tables stand today in galleries, collectors’ homes, and museums as timeless icons of 20th-century design. Yet Jorge (Jerzy) Zalszupin’s story began far from Brazil — in Warsaw, where he was born in 1922 and where, inspired by books on Le Corbusier and the rhythm of interwar architecture, he first dreamed of becoming a designer. Decades later, those dreams — reshaped by exile, displacement, and new beginnings — found their full expression in Brazil.

A first in Europe

This autumn, Warsaw has a rare chance to rediscover him. For the first time in Poland — and in Europe — a comprehensive exhibition "Warsaw - São Paulo - Warsaw" of Zalszupin’s work opens in the historic Gawroński Villa. Around thirty pieces are on display: the famous Presidencial armchair, the delicate Petalas tables, and sketches and architectural plans that trace the arc of a career bridging continents.

Zalszupin’s Presidential Armchair and Petalas Table at the Warsaw - São Paulo - Warsaw exhibition. Photo: Warsawslook

A villa with atmosphere

The choice of venue is significant. The villa is becoming a symbol of boutique cultural events in Warsaw — intimate, atmospheric, and distinct from the large institutions. Visitors step inside not a sterile museum hall, but a space that feels closer to the spirit of a designer’s own living room.

The exhibition is organised by the Visteria Foundation, a young Warsaw-based initiative that connects architecture, art, and design. After its debut with Romantic Brutalism — a show brought from Milan earlier this year — Visteria now brings Zalszupin home, placing Warsaw on the cultural map as a city open to international dialogue in design.

His work combined the discipline of European modernism with the sensuality of Brazilian materials. His furniture was not only functional but poetic — carrying memories of migration, resilience, and identity.

A journey across continents

Zalszupin’s life mirrors this dialogue. War forced him to leave Poland; studies led him to Bucharest and then to post-war France, before he finally arrived in Brazil in 1949. There he founded his studio L’Atelier and became a central figure of modernist design. His work combined the discipline of European modernism with the sensuality of Brazilian materials. His furniture was not only functional but poetic — carrying memories of migration, resilience, and identity.

Closing the circle

The exhibition, spread across the villa’s first floor, invites us to encounter Jorge’s precision and sense of form. Quietly powerful, it offers a deeper look at an architect and designer whose legacy is being rediscovered in Poland and celebrated worldwide. It also reminds us that design is never just about objects — it is about places, histories, and the lives that shape them. His furniture, too, was not only functional but poetic, carrying memories of migration, resilience, and identity.