Desk from Office Suite (Primary Title)
Hector Guimard, French, 1867–1942 (Designer)
Ateliers d'Art et de Fabrication, French, 1897–1914 (Maker)
Hector Guimard was among the most famous architects and designers working in Europe at the turn of the last century. He created total environments, from the architecture of a building to every aspect of its interior including furniture, metalwork, and textiles. Representing the highest quality in cabinetmaking, this office suite made for Guimard's own house on Avenue Mozart in Paris, displaysthe architect's use of botanical motifs based on a plant’s stems and roots. The carved decoration in high relief serves to unify the suite of furniture. A large cabinet by Guimard, displayed at the artist's house, is on the right of this office suite in the museum's gallery.
Inscribed (on chairs, front right; files, lower right; desk, lower left): Hector Guimard 1909
Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis
L'Art de vivre: Decorative Arts and Design in France 1789-1989, Cooper Hewitt Museum, NY, 1989;
Guimard, Paris, Musee d'Orsay 13 April 26 - July 1992, Lyon, Musee des Arts Decoratif et des Tissus, 25 Sept. 1992-3 Jan 1993;
Europe: Beginning and End, 1993, four venues, Tokyo, Fukuama, Osake, and Kobe, Japan;
Cross-Currents of Modernism: Selections from the Sydney & Francis Lewis Collection, BGC, NYC, 11/18/94-2/26/95
Guimard, Paris, Musee d'Orsay 13 April 26 - July 1992, Lyon, Musee des Arts Decoratif et des Tissus, 25 Sept. 1992-3 Jan 1993;
Europe: Beginning and End, 1993, four venues, Tokyo, Fukuama, Osake, and Kobe, Japan;
Cross-Currents of Modernism: Selections from the Sydney & Francis Lewis Collection, BGC, NYC, 11/18/94-2/26/95
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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