Marc Held is both an architect and a designer. His creations have included Limoges dinnerware, ski gear, automobiles, and homes, in addition to industrial buildings, automobiles, and teaspoons. Despite having long had a Paris studio, his designs were seen and purchased worldwide. Many of his pieces are on display in contemporary art museums, and some rare and difficult-to-find ones are included in significant public auctions.
Marc Held focuses primarily on the interaction between traditional and modern architecture today. He carefully chooses commissions that allow him to combine theory and practise while designing and building homes complete with their landscaping and furnishings in the tradition of the greatest architects of the 20th century, including Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Alvar Alto, and Arne Jacobsen. Greece, Marc Held’s second home for more than ten years, is where he now primarily resides. (:: MARC HELD :: Architect & Designer, n.d.)
Education
He studied kinesiology and dramatic arts.
Biography
Held was a professor of physical education. In 1960, he founded and became the director of Archiform, a centre for research in industrial, interior, and architectural design where designers, architects, and former pupils of the Ecole Boulle, Paris, pursued their work. In 1965, he founded the publication Echoppe. Hôtel Les Dromonts, Avoriaz, was one of the jobs he worked on between 1966 and 1968. He also designed three chairs for Knoll, including the well-known Culbuto chair from 1967, produced in 1970. He created many private apartment interiors up until 1966; in 1969, he created plastic-moulded furniture for the homes of architect Georges Candilis; and in 1973, he created a dinner service made of Limoges porcelain by Coquet. In 1971, Held started working as an independent architect for clients like IBS and designed the interior of the 1987 ocean liner Wind Star. These pieces of plastic furniture were sold in Held’s own store, L’Echoppe, and were made by Créateurs et Industrielles (distributed by Prisunic). For François Mitterrand, Archiform created the interior of the Lintas advertising agency, the Oceanliner Mermoz, and the Grand Drawing Room of the Elysée Palace.
Exhibitions
Participated in the 1968 (XIV) Triennale di Milano. Work (moulded-plastic furniture) shown in the architecture section: French Pavilion, 1970 (III) Eurodomus, Palazzo dell’Arte, Milan; 1990 Design français: 1960–1990: Trois décennies exhibition, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Designed for the 1969 Construction et Humanisme exhibition in Cannes.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL
MARC HELD Architect & Designer. (n.d.). MARC HELD architect & designer. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from http://marcheldarchitect.com/en/index.htm#:~:text=Marc%20Held%20is%20both%20a,ski%20outfits%2C%20automobiles%20and%20houses.
Design Store
Books | French Design
French Blooms: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Paris and Beyond
Home Sweet Maison: The French Art of Making a Home
The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock (Midcentury: Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism, and Design)
French Style with Vintage Finds: A Passion for French Antiques & Collectibles
Provence Style: Decorating with French Country Flair
How to French Country: Color and design inspiration from southwest France
Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts
Charles Faudree's Country French Living
French Secrets about Home and Décor: L'Art de Vivre (Like the French)
Charles Faudree Country French Legacy
Horses & Homes
Carolyn Westbrook Home
French Country Cottage
The French-Inspired Home, with French General
A Year in the French Style: Interiors & Entertaining by Antoinette Poisson
Perfect French Country: Inspirational interiors from rural France
More on French Design
-
Léon Ledru (1855 -1926) French glassmaker
Léon Ledru (1855-1926) was a French glassmaker and designer. He was the manager of the design department of the Cristalleries du Val-Saint-Lambert in Belgium for 38 years. Through the work the firm showed at the 1897 Brussels ‘Exposition Internationale,’ he stimulated interest in avant-garde design.Read More →
-
Étienne Kohlmann (1903 – 1988) French interior designer
Étienne Kohlmann (1903 – 1988) was a French interior designer and decorator. He was born and raised in Paris, where he also worked professionally.Read More →
-
Claude Montana (b.1949) French Fashion Designer
Montana’s career in fashion began almost accidentally; he moved to London in the early 1970s “to escape studying,” having no plans and no work visa. Raising money by selling rhinestone-studded papier mache jewellery, he met a Vogue editor by happenstance and had his work featured in the magazine. Read More →
-
Paris: May 1968 Posters of the Student Revolt
In the turbulent days of May 1968 in Paris, a group of artists calling themselves the Atelier Populaire created posters that were vital in spreading the call to unite student and workers. The propaganda of the French revolt was fed by immediate pressures. The day by day events – the disruption of classes at Nanterre…
-
Jules-Emile Leleu (1883 – 1961) French sculptor and designer
Jules-Emile Leleu was a French sculptor and designer. He was born in Boulognc-sur-Mer. He studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Boulogne-sur-Mer,under Théophile Deman; private academy, Brussels. The Ecole Jean Goujon, Paris, under Secame and Ecole des Arts Appliques, Paris. Read More →
-
Le National Moblier, the institution for the French Decorative Arts
The Mobilier National is an institution attached to the Ministry of Culture that maintains, creates and distributes a unique collection of over 130,000 pieces of furniture and textiles. Its mission is to ensure the conservation and restoration of its collections, perpetuate and transmit exceptional know-how, and promote French decorative arts.Read More →
-
Martin Szekely (b.1956) French furniture designer
He started his career as a copper-plate engraver. In 1977— 1978, he designed furniture, notably the Ar stool, and VIA sponsored many of his early works. His first major triumph was a 25-piece furniture collection for the Sauvagnat firm, which he displayed at the 1979 Salon du Meuble in Paris. Read More →
-
Tony Selmersheim (1871 – 1971) French architect and decorator
Initially, he collaborated with architect Charles Plumet. Tony and Pierre Selmersheim worked together on furniture, furnishings, lighting, and the interior design of various structures.Read More →
-
Edmond Lachenal (1855 – 1948), French Sculptor and Ceramicist
Lachenal joined Théodore Deck’s studio in 1870 and later became director. He established his studio in Malakoff, near Paris, in 1880 and Chatillon-sous-Bagneux, France, in 1887. He decorated his pottery with stylized figures, landscapes, greenery, and flowers in the ‘Persian style’ influenced by Deck. Read More →
-
Abdi Abdelkader (b.1955) Algerian Designer and Teacher
Abdi Abdelkader is an Algerian designer who studied at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. He collaborated with Alessandro Mendini, established his design studio, designed furniture collections, and taught at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs.Read More →
-
Clément Mère (1861 – 1940) French designer and furniture maker
Clément Mère was born in Bayonne and active in Paris. He was a French painter, table-builder, artist and furniture builder. He studied painting with Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.Read More →
-
Raymond Subes (1893 – 1970), French metalsmith
Raymond Subes (1893–1970) was a French metalsmith. He made ironwork for the oceanliners 1931 Atlantique, 1926 Ile-de-France, Pasteur, and 1935 Normandie. After World War II, he worked as a metalworker and became the head of Borderel et Robert.Read More →
-
The Little Book of Burberry – The Story of the Iconic Fashion House
Burberry is renowned for its coveted designs, which balance tradition and innovation. This book reveals the story behind the brand and includes photographs from its humble beginnings in 1856 to current designs. Read More →
-
Max Ingrand (1908 – 1969) French artist and decorator
Maurice Max-Ingrand (1908–1969) was a French artist and stained glass artist. He was captured by the Nazis during World War II but returned to France in 1945. In 1968, he established Verre Lumière, one of the first businesses to manufacture halogen lamps.Read More →
-
Pascal Mourgue (1943 – 2014) French designer and artist
Pascal Mourgue is a French designer and artist. He was professionally active in Paris and the brother of Olivier Mourgue. He considers himself more of an artist than a designer. He is noted for modern yet timeless style. He designs products for both home and the office illustrate his belief that utility and fine art…
-
Jean Fouquet (1899 – 1964), French Jewellery Designer
In 1919, he joined as a designer in the family firm, 6 rue Royale, Paris; he was a friend of Louis Aragon and Paul Eluard. Between 1920—25, he collaborated on Le Corbusier’s and Amédée Ozenfant’s review L’Esprit Nouveau: Revue International d’Esthétique. In his jewellery, he developed a liking for abstract compositions. From 1931, his jewellery…
-
George Barbier one of the Great French Illustrators
George Barbier was one of the Great French Illustrators of the early 20th centuryRead More →
-
Jacques Gruber (1870 – 1936) French Stained Glass artist and designer
Jacques Gruber (1870-1936) was a French stained-glass artist, designer, and teacher, born Sundhausen, Alsace. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, under Gustave Moreau. He was distinguished as a designer in the Art Nouveau idiom. Read More →
-
Pierre Patout (1879 – 1965) French Architect and Designer
Following the war, he collaborated with his friend Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, a decorator. They worked together on designs for the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, which took place in Paris from April to October 1925 and gave the style its name. Read More →
-
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (b. 1949) French fashion designer
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (b. 1949) was a French fashion designer born in Casablanca. He studied law at Faculté de Droit, Limoges and founded the Ko ready-to-wear fashion firm in 1968. He was recognised for his avant-garde designs for women’s clothing featuring unconventional materials. Read More →
-
Tachisme – The Abstract Art Movement of the French 🇫🇷
Tachisme is frequently used interchangeably with art informel or Lyrical Abstraction to refer to the abstract art movement that flourished in Europe, particularly France, in the late 1940s and 1950s.Read More →
-
Léon Jallot (1874 – 1967) French designer and artisan
Léon Jallot (1874-1967), a scion of the French Art Nouveau, stood out within the movement as an ébéniste, or cabinet maker.Read More →
-
Jean-Paul Gaultier (b.1952) French Fashion Designer
Before launching his label in 1976, Gaultier worked for Cardin, Jacques Esteirel, and Patou. From the onset, Gaultier was dubbed the ‘enfant terrible de Paris’.Read More →
-
René Kieffer (1875 -1964) – French Bookbinder
René Kieffer was a gilder at the Chambolle-Duru bindery for ten years. In 1903, set up his workshop at 99 boulevard St-Germain, Paris. Later he moved to 41 rue St-Andre-des-Arts and finally, in 1910, to 18 rue Seguier. A disciple of Henri Marius Michel, his work shifted from classical forms to motifs in the Art…
-
Art Nouveau Style – antidote to mass production and consumerism
Art Nouveau – Everything Old is New Again It has been said about fashion today that “everything old is newRead More →
-
André Groult (1884 – 1967) French interior designer
André Groult (1884 – 1967) was a French interior designer and furniture designer who contributed to the Art Deco movement. Curving and organic shapes, as well as vibrant materials, characterised his work. As a result, his art has been described as a blend of tradition and modernism.Read More →
-
Georges Dunaime – Art Deco -French Designer
Georges Dunaime designed lighting for E. Etling, the designer and engraver. His work included table lamps, torchéeres, and chandeliers made of silver, gilt, and patinated bronze with shades made of cloth, cut glass, quartz, marble, and alabaster.Read More →
-
Armand-Albert Rateau – Art Deco High Style Designer
Armand-Albert Rateau (1882–1938) was a French furniture designer and interior decorator. His name and work became well known for his contributions to the Art Deco style, which was gaining popularity at the time. He created the fashion house Lanvin and ran the Lanvin-Décoration interior design department on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. He became one of…
-
Jean Prouvé (1901 – 1984), Father of High Tech Design
Jean Prouvé was a French metal worker, self-taught architect, and designer who bridged the gap between architecture and technology, influencing Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel, Rogers, Piano, and others. Prouvé developed the ‘murrideau’ (curtain wall) replaceable, moveable wall system and prefabricated furniture for the Université de Nancy. Jean Prouvé developed new ideas in the 1950s and…
-
Concorde a design classic
Concorde was developed jointly by British Airways and Air France. Concorde was the first and remained the only supersonic civilian aircraft to be put into commercial service. Read More →
-
Marcel Gascoin and how he got inspiration from the Ocean liner?
Marcel Gascoin (1907 – 1986) was a French furniture designer and decorator. He studied architecture, at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, under Henri Sauvage. Read More →
-
Marc Held (b.1932), French Designer & Architect
Marc Held is an architect and designer who focuses on the interaction between traditional and modern architecture, creating Limoges dinnerware, ski gear, automobiles, and homes.Read More →
-
Genêt et Michon French Lighting Manufacturers
Genêt et Michon was a French lighting manufacturer founded in 1911 by Philippe Genêt and Lucien Michon. After testing, they found that thick-pressed glass increased the number of reflections and brightness of light more than other types of thin glass. They were pioneers of the suspended luminous sphere and made ceiling dalles, lamps, lustres, wall…
-
René Gabriel (1890 – 1950) French Interior Designer
René Gabriel was a follower of Francis Jourdain who made wallpaper, fabric, rugs, and porcelain for the Manufacture de Sèvres. He also designed bent-metal tubular seating and structures, and opened Ateliers d’Art, Neuilly. He taught at the Ecole des Arts Appliqués and was the director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. His work…
-
Henri Navarre (1885 – 1970) French Metalworker
Henri Navarre was a French sculptor, architect, silversmith, and glassmaker who was influenced by Maurice Marinot and exhibited his work at Galerie Edgar Brandt and Maison Geo Rouard.Read More →
-
Why was Edgar Brandt a leader in the field of ironwork?
Egdar Brandt was a French metalworker known for his innovative designs that incorporated traditional and modern techniques, and his work can be found in many public and private collections.Read More →
-
Christian Germanaz ( b. 1940 ) french industrial designer
Germanaz designed the Half and Half seat (1964), it was manufactured by Airborne in 1968. This consisted of two identical plastic shapes clamped together to form a bench.Read More →
-
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
The École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs was instrumental in the emergence of the Art Deco design movement and the development of modern design trends in the 1920s. Animation, photography, scenography, industrial design, communication design, interactive design, film, interior design, fashion, textile, and engraving are among the subjects taught at the School.Read More →
-
Maison Gripoix costume jeweller – glass with class
Maison Gripoix, a French costume jeweller, was located in Paris. Around 1890, Maison Gripoix sold glass beads and buttons wholesale. Subsequently, specialised in handmade imitations of precious and semi-precious jewels, including parures for Sarah Bernhardt.Read More →
-
Competition: C6 Herringbone griddle pan by Inga Sempé
The Herringbone pattern grill lines channel cooking juices to either of the two pouring spouts and the large power-grip handles optimise manoeuvrability. Read More →
-
Louis Rault (1847 – 1903) French sculptor, engraver and jewellery designer
Louis Rault (1847 – 1903) was a French Sculptor, engraver, silversmith and jewellery designer.Between 1868 and 1875, Rault worked in the Boucheron workshop on the Place Vendôme in Paris. At the end of the nineteenth century, he set up a workshop where he produced silver and jewellery in the Art Nouveau style.Read More →
-
Jean Goulden (1878 – 1946) French Artisan & Crafter
Jean Goulden was a French painter, musician, and crafter who lived from 1878 to 1946. During World War I, he found Byzantine enamels near Mount Athos in Macedonia. His Cubist pendulum clocks were some of his best pieces. Only 180 of his items are known to exist.Read More →
-
Claude Garamond (1510 – 1561) made the letter a living thing
Little is known about the early life of France’s most distinguished type designer Claude Garamond, though he is mentioned as being “at work” in the printing business early in the sixteenth century, Garamond was commissioned by the French monarch, Francis I, to cut a font of Greek letter which later became known as the “Royal…
-
Andre Hermant (1908 – 1978) French architect and furniture designer
In 1936, he became a member of UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes); after World War II, he participated in the reconstruction of the port of Le Havre under the direction of architect Auguste Perret.Read More →
-
Desny (1927 – 1933) French Design Firm
Desny was a Parisian lighting company founded in 1927 by designers Desnet and René Mauny and a business partner named Tricot. READ MORERead More →
-
André Mare (1885 – 1932) french furniture designer
Mare André was a french painter, decorator and furniture designer. He studied painting, at the Academie Julian, Paris. Read More →
-
Pierre Balmain (1914 – 1982) French fashion designer
Pierre Balmain (1914 – 1982) was a French fashion designer and the influential postwar fashion house Balmain founder. He described the art of dressmaking as “the architecture of movement,” and he was known for his sophistication and elegance. LEARN MORERead More →
-
Serge Mouille (1922- 1988) French Lighting Designer
Serge Mouille was a French Lighting Designer; he was born and active in Paris. Mouille studied silversmithing, École des Artes Appliqués, Paris to 1941.Read More →
-
Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (1925)
Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes was a vital exhibition that gave its name to ‘Art Deco,’ a rich vein of design across a wide range of applications, from cinemas to ceramics, textiles and tableware, and graphics to graphs.Read More →
-
Galeries Lafayette – Light on the Hill of European Design
The Galeries Lafayette reported revenue of more than five billion euros in 2019. Since 1960, it has belonged to the International Association of Department Stores. It now has a number of locations in France and other countries in addition to its flagship store on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris.Read More →
-
Maurice Dufrêne (1876 – 1955), French Decorative Artist
Maurice Dufrêne (1876–1955) was a French decorative artist who headed the Maîtrise workshop of the Galeries Lafayette department store. He designed many different types of decorative art, including metalwork, ceramics, glass, and fabric. His designs from 1910 onward are austere and neoclassical, reminiscent of the Louis XVI style.Read More →
-
Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic (hardcover)
This book’s stature is rare. It took five years to compile 624 pages and 740 pictures about Art Nouveau in France. Arwas examines the movement’s development in Nancy and Paris using never-before-published pictures. The comprehensive, witty narrative extends over architecture, haute couture, and the role of women in Art Nouveau with a look at Sarah…
-
Suzanne Guiguichon (1901 – 1985) French Furniture Designer
Suzanne Guiguichon was a French furniture designer and decorator. She was born and worked in Paris. Since 1929 she worked as a designer with Maurice Dufrene at the Galeries Lafayette design studio La Maitrise in Paris. Most of the furniture, clocks, lighting, fabrics, rugs, accessories Guiguichon designed anonymously.Read More →
-
Alessi PSJS Juicy Salif Citrus Squeezer (Design Classic)
Alessi PSJS Juicy Salif Citrus Squeezer designed by Philippe Starck On a sunny day in the spring of 1989, PhilippeRead More →
-
Pierre Paulin (1927 – 2009) French furniture designer
He was active in research for the government-sponsored Mobilier International. His first plastic object was the 1953 Chair 157 in polyester, ABS, and elastomers produced by Artifort of Maastricht. Around 1955, he was one of the first to work in elasticised fabrics for Thonet and subsequently for Artifort.Read More →
-
Richard Peduzzi (b.1943) French Set and Furniture Designer
Richard Peduzzi (b.1943) is a French painter and scenic furniture designer. Education He studied drawing and sculpture under Charles Auffet.Read More →
-
SS. Normandie Art Deco Palace
The ship, its decor, and furniture reflected everything stylish, sophisticated, forward-thinking, and French when it was launched in the age of grand style, a decade after the successful exposition of modern design at the 1925 Paris exhibition.Read More →
-
40+ French Designers in the applied and decorative arts
The following posts are a selection of French Designers that I have posted about over the last year. French design styles incorporate the new and the old. It is bold and sophisticated. It is attention to detail, whether a brooch, a clock, fabric, or glass. Read More →
-
Jean Schlumberger (1907 – 1987) French jewellery designer
Jean Schlumberger (1907–1987), one of the most accomplished artists of the twentieth century, produced objects of unrivalled beauty. He was a man of exquisite taste, a jeweller who created extraordinary jewelled statements with a feeling of depth and life. Read More →
-
Marcel Guillemard (1886 – 1932) French Decorator & designer
Marcel Guillemard (1886 – 1932) was a French decorator and furniture designer. He was born and professionally active in Paris.Read More →
-
Boris-Jean Lacroix (1902-1984) 🇫🇷 French Lighting Designer
Boris-Jean Lacroix (1902-1984) was a French Lighting Designer born in Paris. Biography Lacroix was a prolific designer of lighting, wallpaper,Read More →
-
Eric Anthony Bagge (1890 – 1970) French architect and designer
Eric Anthony Bagge (1890 – 1970) was a French architect and designer. He was born in the town of Antony, near Paris.Read More →
-
Paul Poiret (1879 – 1944) – King of Fashion
In the early decades of the 20th century, Paul Poiret was a crucial figure in the French fashion industry, notably by adding a deep oriental flavour and rich colours to contemporary clothing. Read More →
-
Martine Bedin (b.1957) radical architecture and design
Bedin was one of the founders of the avant-garde Memphis group in Milan in 1981. Also, she has worked as an architect, industrial designer and professor. Her work is held in many important museums and private collections. Bedin’s aesthetic is typically colourful and self-consciously kitschy.Read More →
-
Jan and Joel Martel (1896 – 1966) twin brothers and French sculptors
Jan and Joel Martel (1896 – 1966) were twin brothers and French sculptors. They were born in Nantes and active in Paris. Cement, glass, steel, mirrors, ceramics, lacquers, and synthetics were all used in their projects.Read More →
-
Jean Patou (1880 – 1936) 🎩 Fashion Designer
One of Patou’s most famous customers was the French tennis champion Suzanne Lenglen, whom he dressed both on and off the court. This lean and active young woman epitomised the 1920s “new woman.” She created a furore in 1921 when she wore Patou’s knee-length pleated skirt, which revealed much of her legs when she ran.…
-
Andre Salomon (1891 -1970) French Lighting Engineer
He was an engineer at Tompson before setting up the small electrical firm Perfécla (Perfectionnement de I’Ecla), regularly working with architects and designers, including Pierre Chareau, and André Lurcat, René Herbst, and architect Robert Mallet-Stevens. For the latter, he produced the widely published 1929 lighting fixture designed by Francis Jourdain in the form of a…
-
Groupe des Cinq French fraternity of designers
Its members included Pierre Chareau, Raymond Templier, Dominique (André Domin and Marcel Genevriere), and Pierre Legrain. In 1926 and 1927, they showed their work as the Groupe des Cinq at Galerie Barbazanges, Paris. The gallery, at 109 rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, was designed by André Lurcat. The association is not to be confused with…
-
Pierre-Émile Legrain (1889 -1929) French Furniture Designer
He submitted cartoons in 1908 for Paul Iribe’s satirical reviews Le Témoin, L’Assiette au beurre, Le Mot, and La Baionnette. Iribe invited Legrain to collaborate with him on projects including furniture and interior design, jewelry for Robert Linzeler, and dress designs for Paquin.Read More →
-
Jacques Hitier (1917 – 1999) French furniture designer
He specialised in developing industrial furniture for public contexts like schools and government buildings after WWII. He exhibited his whole body of work at both the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs and the Salon des Arts Ménagers. Hitier also created luxury and high-end home furnishings.Read More →
-
Salon d’Automne exhibitions Paris, France
The founders of the Salon d’Automne were a collective of artists and writers, including Eugène Carrière, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georges Rouault, Édouard Vuillard, Joris-Karl Huysmans and Émile Verhaeren…Read More →
-
Francis Jourdain (1876 – 1958) – painter, interior designer, ceramicist
Francis Jourdain (1876 – 1958), the son of architect Frantz Jourdain, was born on November 2, 1876. His father created the Salon d’Automne collection. He benefited from his parents’ friendships with prominent intellectuals (Émile Zola, Alphonse Daudet) and artists of the time (the circle of Alexandre Charpentier). Read More →
-
René Lalique (1860 – 1945) French goldsmith and glassmaker
Artisan in glass and creator of family firm Cristal Lalique René Lalique was a French glass designer, jeweller, furniture designer,Read More →
-
Eileen Gray (1879 – 1976) Irish/French Furniture Designer
Eileen Gray was an French furniture designer and architect. Her work reflected a stylistic pastiche of far eastern and french influences.Read More →
-
Joseph and Pierre Moughin – French ceramicists
Joseph Mougin decided to become a ceramicist after seeing an exhibition of Jean Carriès’s pottery in 1894. He set up a studio and a kiln in Montrouge with the help of sculptor friend Lemarquier and his brother Pierre Mougin.Read More →
-
Jean Adnet (1900 – 1995) French designer
In 1928, Jean Adnet became director of the window-display department at Galeries Lafayette, where, in 1922, brother Jacques Adnet became director of its La Maitrise decorating studio; they collaborated under the name ‘JJ Adnet.Read More →
-
Boucheron French Jewellery House
Boucheron was a French court jeweller with branches in Paris, London, Biarritz, and New York. Founded by Frederic Boucheron (1858). Famous for elaborate diamond jewellery during the late 19th century. Expensive novelties shown at international exhibitions in Paris (1867 and 1900) and Philadelphia (1876) attracted wealthy customers (mainly American).Read More →
-
Formes Utiles – French Organisation and Exhibitions
In 1949, Formes Utiles became an independent association of UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes) through the influence of René Herbst and Charlotte Perriand and its first exhibition held at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Its theoretician was architect André Hermant.Read More →
-
Henri Vever (1854 – 1942) collector of Ukiyo-e
Vever had acquired a collection of thousands of fine ukiyo-e prints by the early twentieth century. Vever’s collection was so well-regarded that the authors of some of the first European scholarly publications on ukiyo-e relied heavily on it for most of their actual print researchRead More →
-
‘Exposition Universelle’ Paris 1900
The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world’s fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. It was held at the esplanade of Les Invalides, the Champ…
-
Alphonse Fouquet (1828 – 1911) French Goldsmith and Jeweller
His early jewellery was in neo-Greek and neo-Renaissance styles, indistinguishable from Vever, Fossin, Morel, and Mellerio.Read More →
-
René-André Coulon (1908 – 1997) furniture with tempered glass
René-André Coulon was a furniture designer from France. He did architectural studies until 1937. In his work, Coulon integrated tempered glass, some of which Hagnauer, Vienna, made. He designed the interior furniture of Adnet for Saint-Gobain.Read More →
-
La Paresse (1924 – 1925) by George Barbier
George Barbier, a French graphic artist, created this scene of cultured decadence. It is a pochoir print based on a 1924 watercolor; it appeared in the following year’s fashion annual, Falbalas et Fanfreluches. Read More →
-
Malvine Tcherniak (1894 – 1968) French/Russian Decorator
In the 1920s, she designed ceramics, textiles and wallpaper and domestic items for the Primavera department store of the Au Printemps department store, Paris.Read More →
-
Lucien Falize (1838 – 1897) French goldsmith and jeweller
Lucien Falize (1838- 1897) was French goldsmith and jeweller. He was active in Paris and son of Alexis Falize, father of Andre Falize. When his father retired in 1876, Lucien assumed directorship of the family business. He attempted to expand the business by showing at 1878 Paris ‘Exposition Universelle’ and becoming partners with Germain Bapst.…
-
Bapst et Falize French Goldsmith and Jewellery Firm
In 1752, Georges-Michel Bapst became King Louis XV’s jeweller and took over the direction of his father-in-shop, law’s Georges-Frédéric Stras. (Stras invented ‘strass,’ a colourless glass paste commonly used for jewellery in the 18th and 19th centuries.)Read More →
-
Danielle Quarante ( b.1938 ) French Furniture Designer
She began her professional career as a graphic designer, specialising in exhibition design. In 1966 she worked on product design (children’s furniture, hi-fi systems).Read More →
-
André Monpoix (1925 – 1976) French Furniture Designer
While working for Maxime Old, René Gabriel, and Jacques Dumond, they often collaborated with Alain Richard at Richard et Monpoix, designing furniture produced by Meubles TV.Read More →
-
André Lhote (1885 – 1962) French Artist and Illustrator
Lhote was born 5 July 1885 in Bordeaux, France, and learned wood carving and sculpture from the age of 12, when his father apprenticed him to a local furniture maker to be trained as a sculptor in wood. He enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux in 1898 and studied decorative sculpture until 1904.Read…
-
Jean Puiforcat (1897 – 1945) French Art Deco Silversmith
His silver work was based on the geometric series and had smooth surfaces. Pieces were embellished with ivory, onyx, lapis lazuli, and rosewood. He also used gilding.Read More →
-
Jean Luce (1895 – 1964) French ceramicist and glassware designer
French designer. He worked primarily in ceramics, but also designed for glass and gold. His ceramics, in an Art Deco style, were manufactured in Limoges Read More →
-
Jean-Michel Frank (1895 – 1941) French Interior Designer
After World War I, he worked as a cabinetmaker at Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann’s studio in Paris, where he met decorator Adolphe Chanaux, who had collaborated with André Groult and Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann on the 1925 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.’ Read More →
-
Jean-Maurice Rothschild (1902- 1988) French decorator and designer
He began working in 1921 for Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann in Paris as a designer and artisan. He participated in the design of Ruhlmann’s ‘Hôtel du collectionneur’ at the 1925 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes.’Read More →
-
Eugene Printz (1889 – 1948) French Decorator and furniture designer
He set up his workshop at 12 rue Saint-Bernard in Paris, where he produced cabinets, rugs, drawings, and paintings. In 1930, he rendered the interior scheme of the boudoir of the Princesse de la Tour d’Auvergne in the Château de Grosbois, the private office of Jeanne Lanvin, the reception salon of Field Marshal Lyautey, and…
-
Robert Goosens (1927 – 2016) French jewellery designer
Monsieur Bijou was the moniker given to Robert Goosens, a French jeweller who lived from 1927 to 2016. He was born in Paris, France, the son of a metal foundry worker. He learned the techniques of casting, engraving, and embossing semi-precious and simulated stones into gold and silver metals during his apprenticeship in jewellery making.…
-
Émile Diffloth (1856 – 1933) French ceramicist
In 1899, he became artistic director of Kéramis, Belgian pottery owned by Boch Freres in La Louviere. In c1910, he moved to University City, Missouri, to work for Taxile Doat as a ceramics teacher at the School of Ceramic Art. He went back to France. He belonged to the Société des Artistes Françaises.Read More →
-
Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann (1879 – 1933) outstanding furniture designer
Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann (1879 – 1933) was a French designer who was born and lived in Paris. n 1907, he took over his father’s house painting company in Paris. He first exhibited his work in 1911, with architect Charles Plumet and couturier Jacques Doucet, Frantz Jourdain, and Tony Selmersheim.Read More →
-
Paris and Art in 1950s – influence on design
Paris, newly liberated from the German occupation, sprung to life during the 1950s as a centre for all modes of artistic endeavour, most notably in fine art, literature, and music. Its association with romantic literary figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Roland Barthes made the city incredibly appealing to every serious-minded man…
-
Taxile Maxmilien Doat (1851 – 1938) – French ceramicist
Taxile Maxmilien Doat (1851 – 1938) was a French ceramicist. He was born in Albi, and he was active in University City, Missouri.Read More →
-
École Boulle – College of fine arts and crafts, Paris
The École Boulle was created in 1886 and is named after the cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle, who during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), the Sun King, was commonly considered to be the preeminent artist in the field of marquetry or inlay. The art of André-Charles Boulle is regarded today as “Boulle Work”. Read More →