Jean-Michel Frank

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

Jean-Michel Frank developed an incredibly sophisticated and refined design language, creating interiors with an atmosphere of elegance and furniture with an unparalleled economy of forms. Minimalist at heart and sober in color, Frank used innovative materials and surface treatments to create tables, desks, screens, lamps, stools and cabinets in an ambitious aesthetic. Often employing these same materials to cover walls, floors and ceilings, his interiors were simple, sumptuous and dignified. Frank’s quintessential luxurious minimalism is represented across eight lots in this sale - a testament to the scrupulous nature of the Perelman Collection. Frank’s material exploration was undoubtedly tied to the close relationship with master furniture builder Adolphe Chanaux, with whom he co-operated Chanaux & Co. Frank was one of the earliest, if not the first designer of the 1920s to utilize parchment as a surface treatment, as seen in the present table lamp and pair of cabinets (lot 96). With slight natural variations in color and texture, the parchment creates a visually soft appearance – a sleek contrast when applied to the simple and modernist forms present throughout his oeuvre. Another innovation attributed to Frank and his atelier is the use of straw marquetry. This material, applied to furniture and walls in thin strips and often in radial patterns, is a quintessential component of Frank’s design. Presented in lots 98 and 99, straw marquetry is applied to the simplistic table form known as Parsons, a table whose legs are square in section and flush with the top while all components are the same thickness and material. The design is eponymously named after the Parsons School of Design in Paris, where Frank taught in the 1930s and where he first conceived of the design. Frank created floor and table lamps in an abundance of materials, shapes and sizes. Included in this sale are a pair of elegant standing lamps (lot 95), created out of darkened oak, while the table lamp (lot 97) is ingeniously made of small pieces of glass stacked horizontally and capped on top and bottom with bronze. The pair of exceptional side tables (lot 93) have petite gilt metal legs and a sumptuous leather top. Indicative of Frank’s minimalist forms are the pair of chairs (lot 100) with slabbed sides made from cerused oak - another technique popularized by Frank. The collection of Jean-Michel Frank lots presented here are an illustrious cross section of the distinguished breadth of materials and forms created by the legendary French designer.