« Intérieurs du 20e siècle », Sale 13-14 october 2008 | News | Artcurial

Intérieurs du 20e siècle

Sale 13-14 october 2008

23 September 2008

Our 6th sale devoted to “Intérieur du 20^e siècle” (20th Century Interiors) will include over 600 lots from every period of the 20th Century – a particularly rich century in the field of decorative arts.

From Art Nouveau and the ground-breaking designs of the School of Nancy, down to such leading names of contemporary Design as Verner Panton, Charles Eames and Philippe Starck, art-lovers will enjoy a huge choice of furniture, objets d’art, lamps, glass, ceramics, silver and rugs, priced from €300 to €15,000.

We are also offering an ensemble of around fifty vases by contemporary designers like Ettore Sotsass, Marc Newson, Ron Arad and Shiro Kuramata.

Of particular note is an exceptional ensemble of furniture by the prestigious Maison Jansen who, for nearly a century, was a by-word for neo-classical elegance à la française (estimates €400-€6000).

Maison Jansen

The firm was founded in Paris by the Dutchman Jean-Henri Jansen in 1880, and based first at #9 Rue Royale, then at #6. By the turn of the century Jansen enjoyed a reputation as one of the most dazzling firms for interior decoration in the world, with showrooms as far afield as New York, London, Buenos Aires and Cairo... The order books were filled with leading names from international high society, ranging from Edward VII and the Duke & Duchess of Windsor to the Kennedys (for the White House), Gianni Agnelli (for his Riviera home, the Villa Leopolda in Villefranche-sur-Mer), the Shah of Iran, Coco Chanel and Helena Rubinstein.

Jansen was often asked to design interiors from top to bottom in their celebrated style, exuding theatrical opulence. From 1900 to 1970 the firm produced a vast, and highly varied, range of furniture, with designs inspired by the great periods of France's decorative past – the Renaissance and Louis XV, Louis XVI and Directoire periods – adapted to modern requirements. The result was the unique, sophisticated style that underpinned Jansen's success.

The furniture on offer at Artcurial comes from two prestigious American collections formed during the 1960s, providing a rare glimpse of the craftsmanship of the celebrated Jansen firm which closed its doors in 1989.

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