
René Gabriel (1890 – 1950) was a French Interior Designer.
Biography
Gabriel, a follower of Francis Jourdain, made wallpaper, fabric, rugs, and porcelain, especially for the Manufacture de Sèvres, such as the ones made in 1927 for Louis Jouvet’s Leopold le Bien-Aimné. Kurtz made some of the furniture he designed. From 1923 on, his limited-edition furniture became very simple. In 1935, he started making what was known as Éléments RG, which was made up of different elements that could be put together in different ways. After that, he designed bent-metal tubular seating and structures.
In 1920, he opened the small wallpaper store Au Sansonnet on rue de Solférino in Paris and designed wallpaper for Papiers Peints de France et Nobilis. In 1934, he opened Ateliers d’Art, Neuilly. In 1947, he became president of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs.
He continued to make a small amount of furniture in the style of Francis Jourdain, taught at the Ecole des Arts Appliqués in Paris, and was the director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1946 on. He also helped set up the René Gabriel Prize.
Exhibitions
From 1919, his work was shown at the Salon d’Automne and the Salons of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs. His girl’s bedroom, with a rug by Gaudissart and lighting by Jean Perzel, was installed at the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.’ He participated in the pavilion of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs at the 1937 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne.’
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL
Design Store
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