327 - Georges JOUVE (1910–1964)

Georges JOUVE (1910–1964) Exceptional lamp Black glazed ceramic piece Incised signature beneath the base: the letter “alpha” and “Jouve” Height: 39 cm The condition report is available upon request at the following email address: contact@neo-encheres.com BIBLIOGRAPHY – Philippe JOUSSE and Norbert PIERLOT, “Georges Jouve,” Jousse Entreprise Éditions, Paris, 2005; model reproduced on page 197 DESCRIPTION Georges Jouve trained at the École Boulle before attending the Académie Julian and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He began his career working on theater sets when World War II broke out. Taken prisoner, he managed to escape and took refuge in Dieulefit, where he discovered pottery and ceramics. After the war, free-form, black pieces became the hallmark of his work. He was one of the first ceramicists to abandon the straight, geometric lines championed by Art Deco in favor of organic forms. In his studio on Rue de la Tombe-Issoire in Paris, he created glossy black ceramics. These were inspired by the ancient technique developed by the Etruscans for their bucchero ware: the clay is blackened throughout by firing in an oxygen-deprived environment. In this regard, Georges Jouve asserted that “Black is a color in itself, which encompasses and consumes all others.” Note: A leading figure in postwar French ceramics, Georges Jouve was active at the heart of the Parisian design scene. A friend of Jacques Adnet, Paule Marrot, and Mathieu Matégot, he notably designed ceramics to complement Matégot’s perforated sheet-metal furniture. His cylindrical vases were exhibited at the Steph Simon Gallery alongside works by Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Serge Mouille, and Isamu Noguchi, while designer Pierre Chapo was among those who collaborated with him. Lighting holds a special place in his body of work: in 1954, he designed a series of wall sconces named “Lyre,” “Papillon,” “Os,” and “Toupie,” before settling that same year in Le Pigonnet, near Aix-en-Provence. The retrospective organized by the Jousse Entreprise gallery in Paris during the winter of 2004–2005, accompanied by the reference book by Philippe Jousse and Norbert Pierlot, firmly established his name among the great designers of the 20th century. Today, lovers of French design readily associate his pieces with the furniture of Jean Royère, the interiors of Jean-Michel Frank, and the lighting fixtures that Alberto and Diego Giacometti created for him, with the furniture of Eugène Printz, the objects of Line Vautrin, and the ceramics of Jacques and Dani Ruelland—other ceramicists of the next generation who embraced free-form designs.