Jean Dunand

An Exposition of Modern French Decorative Art, Lord & Taylor, New York, February 29-March 17, 1928

An Exposition of Modern French Decorative Art, exh. cat., Lord & Taylor, New York, 1928, p. 29, no. 364
Peter Small, "The Modern French Decorative Art Exposition" (Lord & Taylor, New York), Creative Art, March 1928, pp. xliii-xlv (for a discussion of the exhibition)
Felix Marcilhac, Jean Dunand: His Life and Works, London, 1991, p. 95 (for the present lot shown in situ at the Lord & Taylor exhibition)
Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Furniture, London, 1997, p. 66 (for the above view)

"The exhibition of modern French decorative art at Lord and Taylor’s has breadth, sweep, élan... It is a very good show indeed, for it gives a sense of the unity an interdependence of all the arts: but one can scarcely see the spectacle because of the spectators. They have come in thousands to see this exhibit," wrote Lewis Mumford in New Republic, on March 20, 1928.

Building on the excitement surrounding the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, Dorothy Shaver, head of Lord & Taylor's “Bureau of Fashion and Decoration,” organized an exhibition of French Decorative Art in New York, the first of its kind in the United States. In the introduction to the catalogue, Shaver wrote: "In exhibiting this collection we recognize a movement which is becoming increasingly strong ... and especially significant to America because by its very simplicity, frankness and directness it expresses those qualities which are most characteristic of America." The exhibition was intended not only to sell the pieces but also to inspire “a closer alignment of the artists and manufacturer in the production of beautiful objects.” Inspired by the French “ensembles” introduced in 1925, Lord & Taylor showed fully decorated rooms. Alongside exceptional pieces of furniture, including the present lot, were paintings by avant-garde artists such as Picasso, Braque and Derain. Architect Ely Jacques Kahn collaborated with French editor Lucien Vogel on the installation, creating spectacular sets. The exhibition was opened by the poet Paul Claudel, French Ambassador to the United States, and was a tremendous success, initiating the development of American Modernism.

Jean Dunand took a great part in this exhibition, presenting several screens and decorative objects and a few pieces of furniture. The present table, displayed below a portrait of Madame Agnès, is a masterful example of the artist’s work.  The elegant form and subtle amber lacquer, emblematic of Dunand’s work, were decorated with a superb geometric pattern: the engraved and gilt-enhanced radiating top refers to the aesthetic favored by the artistic avant-gardes of the time, from Cubism to Italian Futurism.