Page 44 - Reside Magazine Premier Central Florida

Right: François Cante-Pacos,
Carapace cabinet, 1970.
Far right: The black and white storefront
of Galerie Yves Gastou, designed by
architect and designer Ettore Sottsass, was
controversial at the time of its construction.
Below: Yves Gastou in 2018

R ecalling Yves Gastou, who died in 2020 at
the age of 72, many people single out his
sunny southern accent. But that wasn’t the
only characteristic that set the late French
antiques dealer apart from his Parisian peers.
He was a jovial, tireless professional who
praised his finds with almost feverish passion. To Gastou,
almost everything he saw was an exciting discovery.
He was born in 1948 in Limoux, a small town near the
fortified city of Carcassonne, where his father worked as a
bailiff and auctioneer. Seeing that he was not thriving at
school, his mother found him a work placement with a dealer
specialising in 18th-century antiques. It was an epiphany:
the young Gastou had found his path.
Gastou left school at the age of 16, and in 1970 opened
his first boutique in Carcassonne, before moving to Toulouse
five years later. He was fascinated by art nouveau and art
deco design, which had fallen out of fashion and was relatively
inexpensive at the time. He was soon supplying the galleries
of Paris with Émile Gallé vases and Pierre Legrain furniture.
Every weekend Gastou would drive to Italy in search
of treasures. In Venice he bought glassware crafted in Murano
by Ercole Barovier, Flavio Poli, and Archimede Seguso.
Then, in Milan, he had a revelation. “I lost my mind after seeing 1970s Italian
design,” he recalled. The work of Ettore Sottsass in particular enchanted him:
the fanciful shapes, the unusual materials, the colors, the humor.
Feeling stif led in the provincial south, Gastou headed to Paris.
After four years running a stall at the Saint-Ouen f lea market, he took
over Galerie M.A.I. in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The storefront, adjacent to
the École des Beaux-Arts, was in need of refurbishment, and Gastou
chose Sottsass to do the work. The designer proposed a black-and-white
terrazzo facade made of marble debris and cement. Naturally, it caused
an uproar in the historical district, but Gastou held his ground. For months
Gastou wrestled with the burdensome French administration to secure planning
approval, and eventually Jack Lang, the minister of culture, granted his
request. In 1985 Gastou inaugurated his gallery with a bold retrospective of
Sottsass’ work. He was also the first in France to present the furniture of
Ron Arad and Shiro Kuramata. Passersby who spotted the Japanese designer’s

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