Jacques Adnet (1900-1984)

Rare bar with "L"-shaped metal frame entirely covered in leather and upholstered black Skaï, resting on six gilded brass bamboo legs. Melamine top. Circa 1950. Dim. H: 116 cm × W: 151 cm × D: 81 cm Jacques Adnet, born April 20, 1900, in Châtillon-Colligny (Loiret), after studying at the Collège d'Auxerre, entered the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts where his masters were Charles Genuys (architecture) and Aubert (decoration). In 1922, he joined Maurice Dufresne's "La Maîtrise"; in 1928, he succeeded Süe and Mare as director of the Compagnie des Arts français. From 1923, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, where he was one of the presidents; in 1925, he took part in the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs, where he won numerous prizes. Since then, he has taken part in various decorative art events in Paris and abroad. In 1928, he was awarded the Prix Blumenthal and, at the 1937 Exposition, the Grands Prix for Architecture (Pavillon de Saint-Gobain) and furniture ensembles. He has produced numerous installations, including the Hôtel particulier of Mr. Frank Jay Gould's mansion, the Collège de France Administrator's reception room, Alice Cocéa's apartment, the President of the Republic's study in Rambouillet, etc., and more recently the fitting-out and decoration of the Ferdinand de Lesseps ocean liner. Jacques Adnet remains an architect by training, but his taste for furniture, objects, paintings and tapestries - which always play a part in his decorative designs - is too strong to integrate furniture elements into the overall construction. Henri Clousot rightly wrote: "The art of Jacques Adnet is a happy art"; we would add, Jacques Adnet is too concerned with the happiness of the user to impose the rigidity of an unchangeable framework. He knows how to leave room for freedom and fantasy: his furniture retains its individuality. Thus, having made its debut in the days of uncompromising rationalism, it has retained its essential qualities and logic, humanized by careful refinement. His furniture, with its simple, well-balanced lines, is generally made of plain airy wood. glass, metal or natural leather. Receptive to all the contributions of an evolving era, rich in both new materials and technical During the war, Jacques Adnet made room for craftsmanship in the course of some very interesting collective activities. His work, which for a quarter of a century has remained unaffected by fashion, presents a singular, highly personal unity.