Joaquim Tenreiro was among the leading furniture designers and visual artists in midcentury Brazil. Born into a family of woodworkers and carpenters in Portugal, he emigrated to Rio de Janeiro and in the 1920s began working for the firm of Laubissh & Hirth. In the early 1940s, Tenreiro was among the first designers in the Brazilian furniture industry to adopt a European modernist vernacular. His initial efforts, including the 1942 "Poltrona Leve," met with considerable success, and in 1943 he established his own firm with factories in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. One of his main clients was Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho is a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture...

, for whose houses a number of pieces were originally commissioned. Taking advantage of indigenous Brazilian hardwoods and designing with the Brazilian climate in mind (by keeping pieces light, and often using wicker or cane), Tenreiro evolved a distinctive style suited to local conditions. His 1947 "Cadeira de Embalo" (Rocking Chair) is still in production.

Tenreiro gave up the furniture business in the late 1960s to concentrate on his painting and sculpture—activities in which he had been engaged privately for many decades.

An example of his iconic "three-legged chair" sold at auction in 2008 for over $90,000 USD.