The Big 4-0: A Marc Newson Retrospective Opens In Provence

Many of us are familiar with standouts from Marc Newson’s oeuvre. His Lockheed lounge, his cloisonné series, his work with Apple. But there’s one monumental piece of his that’s never before been shown publicly. Until now. Standing sentry at the entrance to Château La Coste, a 500-acre vineyard in Provence, France, that also showcases art and architecture, is Electra, his nearly 20-foot-tall aluminum sculpture from 1995. “It’s an apt and evocative prelude to what’s ahead,” Newson says, referring to his retrospective installed at the property’s Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium this spring. The self-titled exhibition retraces the past four decades and nearly 40 years of the Australian industrial designer’s groundbreaking practice via 14 key works installed both indoors and out. “It’s a cross section that underlines my longstanding preoccupation with craft, processes, material diversity, and scale,” adds the 62-year-old Newson, who was very involved in the show’s curation and object placement and prioritizes experimentation, as evidenced not only in this presentation but also in such recent and current projects as his fashion runway–design debut (for Fendi’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection last fall) and, with LoveFrom cofounder Jony Ive, the interiors for Ferrari’s first electric car.