Jean-Michel Frank

This lot is offered together with a certificate of authenticity from the Comité Jean-Michel Frank.

Designed by Jean-Michel Frank and executed by Adolphe Chanaux circa 1930, the present pair of two-door cabinets (lot #) illustrate the success of their important, early twentieth-century collaboration. Frank first enlisted Chanaux in 1929 to fabricate the decorations for his own apartment, thus initiating their powerful working relationship that would grow over the course of the following decade. Upholding the French tradition in the decorative arts to utilize fine craftsmanship in producing refined luxury objects, Frank and Chanaux expanded their team of specialists to include Boulle-trained draftsmen, traditionally trained cabinet-makers and experts that worked in vellum and shagreen. Their business was quite successful not only due to Frank’s avante-garde approach to style, but also their dedication to quality. Specializing in unique materials, the duo also developed new decorative techniques such as sandblasting wood to create grooves, introducing ceruse and lead carbonate to wood to alter its color and varnishing thin layers of materials in deliberate patterns to form the surface of furniture pieces, panels and walls. In 1933 they opened a gallery at 140 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré to sell their sought-after furniture. During this time they collaborated with other designers such as Alberto and Diego Giacometti. Always working for a discerning clientele, the collaboration flourished until the onset of World War II, when both Frank and Chanaux went into exile.

Although Frank designed cabinets, wardrobes and other case pieces in a variety of sizes, proportions and material combinations, there is an undeniable sense of cohesiveness amongst them. Rudimentary in form, they present as pure and rational pieces of furniture. Expertly crafted in sycamore with a sumptuous parchment surface, the present cabinets exhibit the finest of Frank and Chanaux's craftsmanship. Deliberately proportioned seams in the parchment reinforce the architectural nature of the cabinets, while natural color variations in the material exude an opulent sensibility. The cabinets are a testament to the refinement and luxury indicative of Frank’s designs and an attestation of his creative collaboration with Chanaux.