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MODERNIST ICON

It’s belated, but it’s big. The first ever retrospective of Irish-born artist Eileen Gray (1878–1976) reveals a life of extraordinary creativity in painting, lacquer work, rug weaving, furniture, photography, decoration and architecture. The Pompidou Center tribute is the first time the full range of the work that made Gray a major figure of Art Deco and Modernism has been presented in one place. Curiosity and determination propelled Gray from her stately family homes in County Wexford, Ireland and London to permanent residence in Paris and the south of France. Her 70-year design career mixed poetic vision with virtuoso techniques— most spectacularly in lacquer. Highlights of the show include a lacquer room with such emblematic pieces as the Sirène armchair (c. 1919), the stunning Paravent en Briques, (c. 1919–22), and the Table aux Chars (chariot table, c. 1915) with its Roman chariot motifs. The table, in lacquered wood, ebony and ivory, represents the legendary collection of early 20th-century French couturier Jacques Doucet, who commissioned Gray to design furniture for his Parisian homes. Furnishings from E-1027, the minimalist Modernist villa in Roquebrune-Cap Martin that she built with Romanian architect Jean Badovici in 1929, include a painted wood swivel-drawer cabinet; the round, lacquered tubular-steel Adjustable Table; and her iconic Transat Armchair, a deck chair in varnished sycamore, synthetic leather and nickel-plated steel.

Until May 20

 

INIMITABLE STYLE

One Grande Dame of design links to another. In the early 1970s, Andrée Putman, pioneer priestess of Parisian decor, acquired from Gray the right to reproduce certain of her modernist designs, along with the work of such other nearly forgotten greats as Robert Mallet-Stevens, Pierre Chareau and Jean-Michel Frank. Produced by Putman’s company Ecart International, the reproductions made their works much more widely known than the originals had. Putman, who died in January at the age of 87, had an inimitable, unforgettable personal style. Tall, smoky-voiced and clad in black-and-white Claude Montana or YSL, she was an imposing trendsetter with a long list of “firsts”: contemporary designs (white porcelain, inflatable furniture) for the mass-market chain store Prisunic in the 1960s; the decor for Morgan’s, Ian Schrager’s 1984 boutique hotel in New York; interiors for the Air France Concorde and the Paris Pershing Hall hotel, among many others. Paris City Hall’s 2010 retrospective of her work attracted some 250,000 visitors.

 

ECLECTIC COLLECTION

The decorative arts, rather than modernism, are the raison d’être of the Left Bank gallery En Attendant les Barbares. But gallery owner Agnès Standish-Kentish quickly arranged a show dedicated to her friend Putman, featuring the precious boxes in patinated bronze, or in ebony or lacquer inset with silver, from the design diva’s only gallery exhibit in 2009. Next up, opening on March 21, is Eclectismes, celebrating the gallery’s collaboration with designer Elizabeth Garouste. Furniture standouts include a pair of patinated bronze Him and Her side tables, a baroque gold-leafed console and a unique metal and wrought iron cabinet with multicolored ceramic doors.

35 rue de Grenelle, 7th

www.barbares. com

Mar 21–Apr 18

 

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR

In the crowded world of art and antiques fairs, the Pavillon des Arts et du Design was one of the first to include 20th-century design, and now sharper design focus has restored PAD’s edge and popularity with dealers and collectors. This year’s Paris edition, in the Tuileries Gardens March 27–April 1, stars a galaxy of feminine players. Left Bank gallery owner Diane de Polignac will spotlight limited-edition lamps and furniture by Paris artist Guy de Rougemont. Marais dealer Béatrice de Saint-Laurent is bringing an international selection of limited editions, including Charles Kalpakian’s striking 2012 Cinétisme/ Kineticism Wall Cabinet. Marie- Bérengère Gosserez’s Marais gallery is offering the Occultation table lamp by OS&OOS (Oskar Peet and Sophie Mensen), a Wallpaper Design award winner whose cement base and glassand- metal light was inspired by the sun and stars. The gallery Priveekollektie (Dutch dealers Irving and Miriam van Dijk) is presenting De Intuïtiefabriek’s 2012 Ornatu, a stunning desk/ dressing table in walnut, powder-coated steel, copper, glass, mirror and porcelain.

www.pad-fairs.com

 

IGLOO UNDER STARS

The exclusive 34-room Hôtel Cheval Blanc in Courchevel, owned by LVMH multibillionaire tycoon Bernard Arnault, has opened an even more rarefied restaurant, Le 1947, seating only 25 patrons. French interior designer Sybille de Margerie dreamed up a theatrical decor that is as cozy as it is snowy white, “like an igloo under the stars,” she says. The night sky is evoked by a black ceiling glistening with tiny LED lights, while giant circular suspensions glow with diffused light, standing in for igloo domes. Tables and chairs are sheathed in off-white leather with seating throws mimicking puffy ski jackets open to their cozy faux-fur linings. Glimpsed through a lacy white Corian screen, the chefs can be watched in action in the round kitchen, where young multi-Michelin star chef Yannick Alléno, formerly chef at the Hôtel Meurice in Paris, is launching his new concept of Cuisine Moderne.

www.chevalblanc.com

 

DO IT YOURSELF

India Mahdavi offers “principles and easy tips for creating a sublime home” in her new “straightforward guide” Home Chic, Decorating with Style (Flammarion, written with journalist Soline Delos). Scheduled for US publication in May, the book is illustrated by the Iranian-born French interior architect and designer’s own Paris apartment and some of her past projects, ranging from restaurants and bars to a swath of international private residences. Starting with an admonition to “get rid of unnecessary doors, shift awkward radiators, replace ugly light switches and eliminate alcoves,” her punchy paragraphs make her advice fun to follow and clue the reader in to such Parisian trends as mix-andmatch tableware and seating. The book’s City Guide section is an invaluable resource.

 

 

Originally published in the March 2013 issue of France Today.