René Kieffer (1875 -1964) – French Bookbinder

René Kieffer was a French bookbinder and publisher. He was active in Paris. He studied Ecole Estienne, Paris, in 1889.

René Kieffer - book cover
René Kieffer – book cover

Biography

He was a gilder at the Chambolle-Duru bindery for ten years. In 1903, he 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 Nouveau style. He was known for his use of bright colours in careful designs. Between 1917-23, he produced the designs of Pierre Legrain for Jacques Doucet’s library. His clients included Franchetti, Freund-Deschamps, Dr Henri Voisin, Count de Verlet, R. Marty, A. Ramuz, and Henri Vever.

René Kieffer - book cover
René Kieffer – book cover

In the 1920s, he began to publish books, some with George Blaizot. In the 1930s, his covers incorporated metal disks encrusted with cabochons of iridescent glass and red glass beads, seen in Luxures by Maurice Rollinat and Roman de Renart shown at 1937 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts et Technique clans la Vie Moderne. Other books included Petrone et Anac­reon and Le crepuscule des Dieux, which showed metal panels and portrait medallions.

Recognition

His work was first shown at the 1903 Salon of the Societe des Artistes Decorateurs. As a binder and publisher, he was vice-president of the book division of 1925 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes.’ Work was shown 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.

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    Primrose Bordier (1929 – 1995) was a French designer known for her colourful and innovative home textiles. She studied at the Atelier Charpentier in Paris.Read More →


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  • Damon (1920s & 1930s) French lighting design firm

    Damon (1920s & 1930s) French lighting design firm

    Damon was located at 4 avenue Pierre-I-de-Serbie in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s. It was well-known for its innovative use of glass in lighting fixtures, with white glass designs that provided a dazzling effect without glare.Read More →


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  • Michel Dufet (1888 – 1985) French interior designer & writer

    Michel Dufet (1888 – 1985) French interior designer & writer

    He attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris to study painting and architecture. In 1913, he founded the MAM (Mobilier Artistique Moderne) decorating workshop at 3 Avenue de l’Opéra in Paris, producing modern furniture, wallpaper, fabrics, and lighting.Read More →


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  • Ruby Ross Wood (1881 – 1950) American Interior Designer

    Ruby Ross Wood (1881 – 1950) American Interior Designer

    Wood settled in New York and began writing an agricultural journal. She started working as a freelance writer and worked as a ghostwriter for interior designer Elsie de Wolfe. Read More →


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  • Georges Lepape (1887 – 1971) French painter & illustrator

    Georges Lepape (1887 – 1971) French painter & illustrator

    Lepape’s work blends orientalist elements with flowing lines, vibrant colours, and graphic stylizations reminiscent of Alphonse Mucha, Erté, Gustav Klimt, and Henri de Toulouse-Art Lautrec’s Nouveau movement. Read More →


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  • End of WWII a revolution in furniture design

    End of WWII a revolution in furniture design

    End of WWII a revolution in furniture design. Womb and shell chairs, biomorphic tables, cat’s cradle pedestals, and architectural shapes are reminiscent of the Second World War’s fertile furniture design era.Read More →


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  • Peter Raacke (b.1928) German metalworker and designer

    Peter Raacke (b.1928) German metalworker and designer

    Hessische Metallwerke commissioned Raacke to produce metal cutlery, kitchen equipment, and cookware, most notably his “Mono-a” line (v-33), with silverware available in stainless steel and sterling silver.Read More →


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  • Mid-Century Modernism – Fresh Optimism in Design

    Mid-Century Modernism – Fresh Optimism in Design

    Designers were motivated by a fresh optimism after WWII and the new materials, production techniques, and colours arriving in unique shapes. In more inexpensive and easily mass-produced designs, a more relaxed, fleshed-out style of Modernism began to develop.Read More →


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  • Matali Crasset – French Product Designer

    Matali Crasset – French Product Designer

    Matali Crasset – French Product Designer. Crasset’s childhood on a farm undoubtedly influenced her distinct design style. Read More… Read More →


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  • Joseph-André Motte (1925 – 2013) French Furniture & Interior Designer

    Joseph-André Motte (1925 – 2013) French Furniture & Interior Designer

    Joseph-André Motte ranks as the most influential and innovative figures of post-war French design. Two careers Furniture & Interior Designer.Read More →


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  • Albert Paley (b.1944) American modernist metal sculptor

    Albert Paley (b.1944) American modernist metal sculptor

    Albert Paley (born 1944) is an American modernist metal sculptor. Starting as a jeweller, he has evolved into one of the world’s most renowned and famous metalsmiths. Furniture, gates, railings, and staircases are among his creations. He consults with architects and space planners, and he leads a team of craftspeople in his Rochester, New York,…


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  • French Decor Kindle Edition Books

    French Decor Kindle Edition Books

    The French decor is back in style, and it’s the ideal style for your home. This style of décor has something unique about it, and while it can seem to be carefree, it adheres to an ideology that finds beauty in flaws. If you want to emulate the magnificent French countryside style in your home,…


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  • Werkstätten Hagenauer Austrian metalsmiths

    Werkstätten Hagenauer Austrian metalsmiths

    Werkstätten Hagenauer were Vienna-based Austrian metalsmiths. Over its nearly ninety-year history, it was a family business in Vienna that produced fine, handcrafted objects for decoration and use. The workshop closed in 1987, but the company’s retail premises on Vienna’s Opernring, which opened in 1938, is still open today as a museum and shop.Read More →


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  • Louis Majorelle (1859 – 1926) French Designer and cabinetmaker

    Louis Majorelle (1859 – 1926) French Designer and cabinetmaker

    Majorelle took over the family cabinetmaking and ceramics business in Nancy in 1879. In the late 1880s, he began designing Modern furniture. Working in the Art Nouveau style, Majorelle was the most dynamic practitioner of the School of Nancy. By mechanising his factory, he produced significant quantities of highly decorated commercial furniture and more elaborate…


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  • Armand Point (1861-1932), French Algerian painter, and designer

    Armand Point (1861-1932), French Algerian painter, and designer

    Armand Point (1861-1932) was a Symbolist painter, engraver, and designer from France, one of the Salon de la Rose + Croix founding members. Point’s first paintings were orientalist scenes of markets and musicians and scenes from his childhood in Algeria’s streets. In 1888, he moved to Paris to study under Auguste Herst and Fernand Cormon…


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  • Mauboussin – French Jewellry – Design Profile

    Mauboussin – French Jewellry – Design Profile

    Maubossin is a jewellery company in France. The original company was established in 1827 in Paris, on Rue Grenata, where it manufactured jewellery. Starting in 1903, M.B. Noury was the owner and nephew of Georges Maubossin, who had been the director of the company since 1877. Mauboussin succeeded Noury in 1923, changing the firm’s name…


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  • Odilon Redon’s Classic paintings Capture Logic of Invisible

    Odilon Redon’s Classic paintings Capture Logic of Invisible

    Odilon Redon, the artist who at the age 73 outsold all but Marcel Duchamp at the 1913 Armory Show of “Modern French Art” in New York City.Read More →


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  • Hervé Van der Straeten – French Designer revives craftsmanship of the past

    Hervé Van der Straeten – French Designer revives craftsmanship of the past

    The French design world was excited by artists back in the 1930s and 1940s who created modern objects that combinedRead More →


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  • 6 Diverse European Designers from last century

    6 Diverse European Designers from last century

    A diverse, eclectic and interesting selection of designers; architects, ceramicists, metal smith, interior designer. For inspiration and information;Read More →


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  • Lucien Rollin designed bedroom at World Fair NY 1939

    Lucien Rollin designed bedroom at World Fair NY 1939

    Lucien Rollin was a French Designer. He designed a bedroom in the French pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. He was active in the Salons of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs – 1928-1937.Read More →


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  • French Street Artist Turns Boring CIty Walls into Hyper-Realistic Scenes

    French Street Artist Turns Boring CIty Walls into Hyper-Realistic Scenes

    French artist Patrick Commecy is based in Eyzin-Pinet, France, but travels all over the country to paint walls. Using theRead More →


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Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (1925) – Encyclopedia of Design

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.

André Mare french painter, decorator and furniture designer – Encyclopedia of Design

Mare André was a french painter, decorator and furniture designer. He studied painting, at the Academie Julian, Paris. Between 1903-04, he shared a studio with Fernand Leger. From c1911; he worked closely with Roger de la Fresnaye. The decorative arts began showing up in his work submitted to the annual Salons in Paris, although he considered himself primarily a painter at the time.

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