Nathalie du Pasquier
Nathalie Du Pasquier (born 1957) is a Milan-based artist and designer mostly known for her work as a founding member of the Memphis Group. Her early body of work includes furniture, textiles, clothing designs and jewelry in addition to iconic work in decoration and patterns. Since 1987, she has dedicated herself to painting.
Also recorded as Nathalie DuPasquier · Nathalie Du Pasquier
Nathalie du Pasquier

Sofiatraversi · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1957
- Birthplace
- Bordeaux, France
- Movement
- Memphis Group
- Spouse
- George Sowden
- Nationality
- France
- Occupation
- painter · designer
- Languages
- French
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Documentary summary
Nathalie Du Pasquier (born 1957) is a Milan-based artist and designer mostly known for her work as a founding member of the Memphis Group. Her early body of work includes furniture, textiles, clothing designs and jewelry in addition to iconic work in decoration and patterns. Since 1987, she has dedicated herself to painting.
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Note VALÉORINE
Nathalie du Pasquier (born 1957) is a designer and painter, of French nationality. The designer was born in Bordeaux. Nathalie du Pasquier worked for Cor Unum and worked in Milan.
Languages used include French. Works are held at Art Institute of Chicago, Design Museum Den Bosch and Design Museum Gent, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q20644171 · wikipedia · Nathalie Du Pasquier
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is French. Places of work recorded in the authority are Milan. Employment is recorded with Cor Unum. Work by Nathalie du Pasquier is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria, Design Museum Gent, Museum of Modern Art, Art Institute of Chicago and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

MADRAS table by Natalie Du Pasquier 1986
Caffe_Paradiso

EMERALD by Nathalier Du Pasquier 1985
Caffe_Paradiso
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 1957 • Birthplace — Bordeaux, France • Movement — Memphis Group • Spouse — George Sowden • Website — nathaliedupasquier.com
Early life
Early life
Du Pasquier was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1957. Her mother was an art historian, which gave Du Pasquier an appreciation for classic art. From 1975 to 1977, she traveled through Gabon and West Africa, and in 1979 she moved to Milan. Du Pasquier drew influence from African art and music.
Post Modern
Post Modern
• Illustration — Carpet by Nathalier Du Pasquier 1985 • Illustration — Natalie Du Pasquier's 1986 post-modern table In Milan, she met the designer George Sowden and in 1981, she and Sowden were asked to become two of the founding members of the Memphis Group by designer and architect Ettore Sottsass. Du Pasquier, the youngest member of the Memphis Group, designed textiles and furniture items. The group was known for making work under the motto "form follows fun". After the Memphis Group broke up, Du Pasquier shifted her focus to work on her solo career as a painter and sculptor.
Painting
Painting
In 1985, Du Pasquier started painting, and by 1987 it became her primary medium. She is represented by Pace Gallery internationally and Galerie Greta Meert in Brussels. Her work has been the subject of several survey exhibitions. In 2015, Nathalie Du Pasquier opened a solo exhibition in Berlin, Germany titled "Big Game". This exhibit included 35 years of her artwork, dating back from 1980. The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania opened an exhibit titled "Big Objects Not Always Silent" in 2016, containing years of abstract drawings, sculptures and figurative paintings. Du Pasquier was exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, in the 2019 group exhibition "Future, Former, Fugitive".
Solo design work
Solo design work
Du Pasquier has continued to design textiles, including patterns for clothes produced by American Apparel since 2014 and blankets and other bedding, with her husband George Sowden, for Zig Zag Zurich in 2015. Her recent exhibit in Modena, Italy, includes seven of Du Pasquier's sculptures. The site entitled "BRIC" was put on by ceramics brand Mutina's headquarters in October, 2019. The site displayed colored and textured bricks showing her duality of art and architecture. The exhibit purpose is to be interpreted by the viewer. The collection was such a success that MUT created brick material on sale similar to Du Pasquier's. The product Brac’ is available in five textures and can be used for the construct of walls. Later in Du Pasquier's career, she ventured into luxury design, designing silk scarves for Hermès and dresses for Valentino.
Style of work
Style of work
• Illustration — Nathalie du Pasquier sign is part of the Neon Parallax in Geneva Over the past couple decades Du Pasquier became fascinated with the imaging of two and three dimensional objects. For a long period of time she created still life paintings by reciprocating everyday objects. Later she built wooden structures representing objects with a real life eye for dimension and symmetry. Du Pasquier's art work consists of bold shapes and colors. Her paintings and figures represents a twist on abstract art. She is not in favor of using high tech graphics in her art. Most of her works are subsequently completed with a pencil and paper. Du Pasquier says she strives to put “elements together that are interesting to paint." Du Pasquier described the relationship between her early work and later work as "a chain of thoughts that follow each other. It would be impossible not to connect the two, even if at a certain point I decided to become a painter."
Works and publications
• 10 Tappeti Moderni = 10 Modern Carpets, 1986, with George Sowden • Viaggio Tranquillo, 1993 • Nathalie du Pasquier, 2001, with Peter Cherry • Nathalie du Pasquier: domino, 2002. • Arranging Things: A Rhetoric of Object Placement (illustrator), 2003, with Leonard Koren • Square Paintings, 2011 • 1/16 du Pasquier, 2011 • Achtung! Blumen!, 2012 with Steve Piccolo • Milanese, 2015 • Nathalie du Pasquier: Don't Take These Drawings Seriously, 2015, with Omar Sosa • How Many, 2022 • Sur Papier, 2025
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Nathalie Du Pasquier”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q20644171: Nathalie du Pasquier
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Q&A: Nathalie Du Pasquier, the Queen of Memphis. Metropolis. 21 April 2015.
- 2.artnet Asks: Memphis's Nathalie Du Pasquier – artnet News. 2015-06-12.
- 3.McQuiston, Liz. Women in design: a contemporary view. Rizzoli. 1988. 0-8478-0944-7.
- 4.Nathalie du Pasquier Interviewed Ahead of Her Camden Arts Centre Exhibition. www.artlyst.com.
- 5.Radice, Barbara. Memphis: research, experiences, results, failures, and successes of new design. Rizzoli. 1984. 0-8478-0569-7.
- 6.Nathalie du Pasquier MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
- 7.Royal chaise. SFMOMA.
- 8.Horn, Richard. Memphis: objects, furniture, and patterns. Running Press. 1986. 0-89471-447-3.
- 9.Bellmann, Karin. Nathalie Du Pasquier. ARTnews.com. 2016-10-24.
- 10.Bellmann, Karin. Nathalie Du Pasquier. ARTnews.com. 2016-10-24.
- 11.Pace Gallery Nathalie Du Pasquier. www.pacegallery.com.
- 12.Galerie Greta Meert.
- 13.Nathalie du Pasquier on her creative process.
- 14.Nathalie du Pasquier: 'From the beginning, I did not belong to the design world or to the art world'.
- 15.Palais de Tokyo, "Future, Former, Fugitive" exhibition. 11 September 2019.
- 16.Beddie, Alainna Lexie. A Memphis Group Founder Creates Prints for American Apparel. T Magazine. 13 March 2014.
- 17.Gavan, Tim. Memphis-Style Design Returns to Home Décor. Wall Street Journal. 2015-12-22. 0099-9660.
- 18.Pasquier, Nathalie du. Nathalie du Pasquier: My Influences. Frieze. 174. 25 September 2015.
- 19.Pace Gallery Nathalie Du Pasquier. www.pacegallery.com.
- 20.Nathalie Du Pasquier. artlead.
- 21.Pasquier, Nathalie du. Nathalie du Pasquier: My Influences. Frieze. 174. 25 September 2015.
- 22.Thinking with a Brush: interview with Nathalie Du Pasquier. artemest.com.
- 23.Bellmann, Karin. Nathalie Du Pasquier. ARTnews.com. 2016-10-24.
- 24.Biswas, Allie. Nathalie Du Pasquier: 'From the beginning, I did not belong to the design world or to the art world'. Studio International – Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.
- 25.Cited in the source article.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Fiell, Charlotte. Design of the 20th Century. Taschen. 223. 2005. 9783822840788.
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