Maarten Baas was born on 19 February 1978 in Arsberg in Germany and since 1979 has grown in Burgh-Haamstede and Hemmen located in the southwest of the Netherlands; after graduating from high school, he studied at the Design Academy of Eindhoven in 1996 and during his studies he became passionate about experimenting with materials and techniques to analyze the behavior of the materials themselves, which led him to the famous and iconic “Smoke” collection, consisting of furnishings, iconic and not, burnt through a particular process, which allows the forms to crystallize during combustion.
In 2005 Baas began collaborating with Bas den Herder, his production partner: most of his designs are handmade in the “DHPH” studio in Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. Other important collections such as in 2006 the “Clay Collection” are born from this relationship: chairs, tables, lamps, fans, coffee tables, armchairs… handmade in a particular mass-colored resin, with a surprising, almost childish and final effect temporary, like children’s objects; the success is enormous and launches the designer on the international panorama of the world of author design.
Bass becomes one of the most influential Dutch designers of the early 21st century, sought after by museums, private collectors and exclusive clients such as Louis Vuitton, Swarovski, Dior, Gramercy Park Hotel, Dom Ruinart and Berluti.
Maarten Bass is often described as an “author designer”, his works lie on the borders between art and design; his work is known as rebellious, playful, intellectual, theatrical and artistic, gaining an autonomous position in the field of design, varying in many different sectors and disciplines: conceptual projects, limited editions, production planning, installations, public spaces, architecture , interior design, theater design and performance.
His works are found in the most important museum collections, such as the MoMa, Victoria & Albert Museum, Les Arts Décoratifs, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Die Neue Sammlung, Museo Stedelijk and Rijksmuseum, but also in some famous private collections, such as those by Brad Pitt, Kanye West, Ian Schrager and Adam Lindemann.
