Serge Roche

Olivier Watelet, Paris Biennale, 1998

 Serge Roche, Mirrors, London, 1957, p. 31

Unlike many of his contemporaries of the 1930s who were espousing the stark and simple modernist aesthetic, Serge Roche fell into another category of designers:  the traditionalists.  He studied and collected 17^th and 18^th century frames and mirrors, a passion which often revealed itself in his designs and which culminated in his 1956 publication, Miroirs:  Galeries et Cabinets de Glaces.

In 1931, Roche helped organize an exhibition of antique and modern frames held at the Georges Petit Gallery in Paris.  Included in that show were a number of frames by Roche himself, some of which were mirrored and painted by his brother Camille.  Henceforth, he used mirrors extensively in his work, incorporating them into all manner of furnishings, including tables, consoles, stools, fireplaces, and decorative objects like obelisks, urns, and not to mention, of course, magnificent wall and table mirrors.  

He quickly earned a reputation for his lavish Baroque style, and when set-designer Christian Bérard and director Jean Cocteau were searching for the magical mirror which was to reflect the outside world to Beauty in their own Baroque masterpiece film of 1946, Beauty and the Beast, they chose to borrow one from Roche.