Olivia Putman,

Olivia Putman was born in Paris in 1964. The daughter of Andrée Putman, the designer and interior architect, and Jacques Putman, an art collector, publisher and critic, she grew up surrounded by art and objects. After earning a degree in art history from the Sorbonne in 1987, she turned to contemporary art. She organised exhibitions, worked as an artist’s agent and, in 1989, founded Usines Éphémères, an association that transforms disused buildings into artists’ studios and exhibition spaces. She later spent two years working with the landscape architect Louis Benech before developing her own garden projects.

In 2007, at her mother’s request, she took over the artistic direction of the Andrée Putman agency, which became Studio Putman. There, she developed a practice spanning interior architecture, scenography and object design.

In 2012, Olivia Putman designed the Jour de Fête lighting collection for the maison Charles. Chinese lanterns meet Art Deco lamps: finely hand-chased bronze slats filter the light and cast shadows. Wong Kar-wai’s film In the Mood for Lovewas among her sources of inspiration. In 2014, a year after her mother’s death, the collection was shown in Hong Kong as part of the exhibition Andrée Putman – Ambassador of Style, alongside works tracing the Studio’s history and conveying the passing of the baton from mother to daughter. Olivia Putman also designed the Miroir Éclipse and the Ginkgo console for Charles.