Serge Mouille (1922- 1988) French Lighting Designer
2021-07-23
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 →
Clément Mère (1861 – 1940) French painter, tabletier, designer and furniture maker
2021-06-16
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 →
Suzanne Belperron (1900 – 1983) French Jewellery Designer
2021-06-02
Suzanne Belporren was a French jewellery designer. Her career flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Belperron produced numerous designs of sculptured jewellery for René Boivin’s Paris shop. She subsequently opened her own Paris shop called Herz-Belperron. Her designs often featured glass encrusted with gemstones.Read More →
Philippe Starck (1949 – ) the artist-designer
2021-05-20
Phillippe Starck is one of the most widely known artist‐designer ‘names’ in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Starck is one of France’s most fêted designers who has worked across a wide range of media. His work epitomises the intersection of art and design, its often fanciful qualities attracting both critical approbation and criticism, particularly in such commissions as pasta for Panzani (1987). Read More →
Raymond Loewy (1893 – 1986) – an American Designer
2021-05-13
He arrived in the United States in 1929, just in time for the great depression. As it happened the beginning of the depression was a fortuitous time for a talented designer with new ideas to arrive in the United States. The old design aesthetic was disappearing with the collapsing economy. Manufacturers wanted to stimulate demand for their products by offering customers new designs, and Loewy had an abundance of them with the ego to match. His mother had always told him, “It is better to be envied than pitied.”Read More →
Jacques Gruber (1870 – 1936) French Stained Glass artist and designer
2021-05-09
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 →
Damon (1920s & 1930s) French lighting designer and firm
2021-04-24
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 →
Paris and Art in 1950s – influence on design
2021-04-22
Paris, newly liberated from the German occupation, sprung to life during the 1950s as aRead More →
Jan and Joel Martel (1896 – 1966) twin brothers and French sculptors
2021-04-22
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 →
Eric Anthony Bagge (1890 – 1970) French architect and designer
2021-04-20
Eric Anthony Bagge (1890 – 1970) was a French architect and designer. He was born in the town of Antony, near Paris.Read More →
French by Design (hardcover)
2021-04-20
The timeless appeal of French-country style, a gracious mingling of sophistication and comfort, spans generations. After years of mainly echoing the furniture, fabrics, and accessories associated with the Provence region, the French country is often far away from the primitive images of the early seventeenth century. Read More →
Charles Plumet (1861 – 1928) French architect, decorator and ceramicist
2021-04-03
In the year 1861, Charles Plumet was born. As an architect, he built structures in the mediaeval and early French Renaissance styles. He worked on interiors and furniture designs in Art Nouveau styles with Tony Selmersheim (1871–1971). Between 1896 and 1901, Charles Plumet joined l’Art dans Tout (Art in Everything), an association of architects, painters, and sculptors who consciously attempted to renew decorative art, adopting styles ranging from adapted mediaeval to Art Nouveau. Read More →
Armand Point (1861-1932) French Algerian painter, engraver and designer
2021-04-02
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 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Read More →
René Kieffer (1875 -1964) – French Bookbinder
2021-03-31
He 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 Nouveau style.Read More →
Robert Goosens (1927 – 2016) French jewellery designer
2021-03-30
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. Read More →
Masterpieces of French Jewelry
2021-03-27
With more than 80 stunning photographs, Masterpieces of French Jewelry offers a fascinating look at the most remarkable pieces that found their way into prominent American collections. Like all art, this delightful array of jewelry mirrors the evolving culture of its time. Chapters in this book explore jewelry of the Victorian Era and the Art Nouveau period of the early twentieth century; Art Deco; 1940s retro; up through the 1960s and more contemporary styles.Read More →
Mauboussin – French Jewellry – Design Profile
2021-03-27
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 to Maubossin. At the intersection of rue Saint-Augustin, rue de Choiseul, and rue Monsigny in Paris, at address 3 rue de Choseul, he bought two connecting houses.Read More →
Primerose Bordier (1929 – 1995) French textile designer
2021-02-27
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 →
Lucien Falize (1838 – 1897) French goldsmith and jeweller
2021-02-23
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. In 1892, the partnership was dissolved. Read More →
Paul Poiret (1879 – 1944) French couturier
2021-02-11
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 →