Color and exoticism (the 1920s) Art Deco Furniture and decoration in Paris before 1914 featured bold colors and geometric floral designs, borrowed from diverse sources ranging from the
Ballets Russes to
cubism and
Fauvism. The First World War put an end to the more lavish style, and stopped almost all construction and decoration. As soon as the war was over, two prominent artists,
Louis Süe and
André Mare, founded the Compagnie des Arts français, a collaborative venture of decorative artists, with Süe as artistic director and Mare as technical director. Their purpose was the renewal of French decorative arts. Other members included
André Vera and his brother
Paul Vera, and
Charles Dufresne. They opened a gallery in 1920 on rue de Faubourg-Saint-Honoré which displayed furniture, lamps, glassware, textiles and other new products, including many designed to be produced in series. Later the group was joined by artists in more modernist styles, including
Francis Jourdain and
Charlotte Perriand. The Compagnie was a major promoter in the advance of Parisian Art Deco. Designers in this period used the most exotic and expensive materials they could find. The painter and decorator
Paul Iribe made a delicate commode in 1912 of mahogany black marble, and sharkskin. In about 1925
André Groult made a small cabinet in an organic shape, entirely covered with white sharkskin. He decorated the first-class cabins on the ocean liner . The furniture designed by Louis Süe and Andre Mare of Compagnie des Arts Francais was finely crafted and lavish. The buffet pictured in the gallery below (1920–1921), now in the
Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, is made of Mahogany, gilded bronze, and marble. Another major figure in Paris interior decoration in the 1920s was
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. He had his own pavilion at the 1925 Exposition. His furniture was noted for its use of rare and expensive woods and other materials, such as ivory. The simple-looking "Duval" cabinet, pictured below, designed in 1924 and probably made in 1926, is made of Brazilian rosewood, ivory, amboyna burl, mahogany, oak, and little plywood. The "Tibittant" desk by Ruhlmann illustrated below, made in 1923, is a fall-leaf desk with a core of plywood covered with oak, poplar, mahogany, and Macassar ebony veneers inside and out. It has ivory inlays, feet, and knobs, silk tassels, a leather interior writing surface, and aluminum leaf and silver gilding. It is now in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. File:Display at Salon D'Automne (1913).jpg|Display at Salon d'Autumne (1913) File:Paul Iribe, cassettiera, parigi 1919 ca.jpg|Commode of mahogany, black marble and sharkskin by
Paul Iribe (about 1919) File:André mare per compaignie des arts français, paravento les faune, parigi, 1920 ca..JPG|Paravent
Les Faunes (c. 1920), by the Compagnie des Arts Francais,
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris File:Le salon de verre, designed by Paul Ruaud, furniture by Eileen Gray, for Madame Mathieu-Levy (boutique J. Suzanne Talbot), Paris, 1922.jpg|The Glass Salon, designed by Paul Ruaud, furniture by
Eileen Gray (1922) File:André Groult, cassettone antropomorphe, parigi, 1925 ca.jpg|Small cabinet covered with sharkskin, by
André Groult (about 1925) File:Buffet by Compagnie des Arts Francais (1920-21).jpg|Buffet by the Compagnie des Arts Francais (1920–21) File:Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann (French, 1879-1933). Corner Cabinet, ca. 1923..jpg|Corner cabinet by
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (about 1923),
Brooklyn Museum File:Tibittant desk - Èmile-Jacques Ruhlmann (39536867932).jpg|Tibbitant desk by
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1923) (Metropolitan Museum) File:“Duval” Cabinet (Model AR 1511 - NR 2300) MET DP297199.jpg|"Duval" cabinet by
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (designed 1924, probably made 1926), Metropolitan Museum File:The boudoir of fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin, now in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.png|Boudoir of apartment of
Jeanne Lanvin by
Armand-Albert Rateau (c. 1925), Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris File:Ufficio biblioteca di Pierre Chareau.jpg|Office designed by
Pierre Chareau (about 1925), Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Functional furniture - the 1930s The 1930s, under the influence of
Constructivism and other more modernist styles, furniture and excoriation became more geometric and functional. Examples were the work of
Pierre Chareau and
Jules Leleu. The style broke into two parts, one devoted to more traditional forms, fine craftsmanship and luxurious materials, the other to more austere forms and experiments with new materials, such as aluminum and steel. File:"La Maison Leleu" au Musée des Années 30 (Boulogne-Billancourt) (2132078468).jpg|Furniture by
Jules Leleu (Musée des Années 30 in Boulogne-Billancourt) File:La maison de Joseph Bernard (musée des années 30, Boulogne-Billancourt) (5317272729).jpg|Salon by
Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann for sculptor
Joseph Bernard (c. 1930) File:René herbst, coiffeuse e sedia della principessa aga khan, 1932.JPG|Dressing table by
René Herbst for the Princess
Aga Khan (1932), (Musée des Arts Décoratifs) == Screens ==