LOUIS SÜE AND ANDRÉ MARE | LADY’S DESK AND CHAIR

Commissioned directly from the artist by Jane Renouardt, Saint-Cloud, 1926-1927

Tajan, Paris, May 4, 1993, lot 70

De Quay-Lombrail, Paris, December 6, 1995, lot 293

Collection of Claude and Simone Dray, Neuilly-sur-Seine

Christie's Paris, Collection Claude et Simone Dray: Art Déco, June 8, 2006, lot 272

Susan Day, Louis Süe Architectures, Liège, Belgium, 1986, p. 139 (for the present desk illustrated)

Florence Camard, Süe et Mare et la Compagnie des Arts Français

, Paris, 1993, front cover, p. 191 (for the present lot illustrated)

Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Complete, New York, 2009, pp. 88 (for the present chair illustrated), 92 (for the present desk illustrated)

This exquisite desk and a chair is one of the most important works produced by the French design duo Louis Süe and André Mare. The desk and chair were originally commissioned by actress Jane Renouardt around 1926 for her newly completed home in Saint-Cloud, just outside of Paris. The villa, designed by Louis Süe, was tragically destroyed in 1977 but had fortunately been widely documented upon its completion. It was described as an architectural masterpiece, home to a combination of state-of-the-art Second Empire furniture from Renouardt’s former home and modernist design specifically commissioned for the new residence. Süe et Mare created pieces of neoclassical inspiration displaying the influence of Art Nouveau design, notably through the use of floral motifs and curvilinear forms. The present desk and chair set is a remarkable statement-making work of craftsmanship that perfectly integrated into the new, modern space. The figurative treatment of the glistening mother-of-pearl bouquets that adorn the chair’s backrest and the side panels of the desk, as well as the gracefully sweeping lines and geometric patterns that articulate the legs make this one of their most iconic creations. An armoire and a commode for Renouardt’s villa also executed by Süe et Mare in striking mother-of-pearl inlays presently reside in the collection of the Musée des Années Trente in Boulogne-Billancourt.