While this fascinating book catalogues the highlights of French decorative arts and interior design between 1900 to 1942, it is the period from 1919 to 1933 that most holds our interest.
This period marks a transition from the decorative dressing of rooms into a much more ambitious, holistic interior design approach.
As we move into the 1930’s we see the parallel trends of Deco’s dramatic artisanal style, exemplified by Jean Dunand, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, and Hector Guimard (much of which finds its way onto the magnificent ocean liner Normandie), compete with the emerging modernist interior vision of Mallet-Stevens, Gropius, Le Corbusier, Léger, Chareau, and Breuer.
Notwithstanding the contrasting styles and ethos, both camps are enamoured with a love of impossibly high ceilings and cinematic exhibitionist tendencies. Fabulous, inventive, glamourous…
French Decorative Art, The Société des Artistes Décorateurs 1900-1942 – ISBN 2-08013505-8
