Jean Royère - Design & Design Art New York Thursday, December 13, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Literature

    Jean Royère, exh. cat., Galerie Jacques Lacoste, Paris, 1999, pp. 24, 40, 63 and 83-85; Jean Royère, Décorateur à Paris, exh. cat., Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1999, pp. 9-10, 25, 41, 60, 63, 70-72, 76, 161, 165 and pp. 12, 115, 122-123 125 for drawings; Yvonne Brunhammer, Le Mobilier Français 1930-1960, Paris, 1997, p. 139 for a drawing; Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Jean Royère, Paris, 2002, pp. 45, 143, 210-211, 226-229, 231-232, 247, 266, 285, 291 and pp. 15 and 233 for drawings

  • Catalogue Essay

    The ‘Polar Bear’ sofa, also known as the ‘Banane’ or ‘Boule’ sofa, was first designed for the redecoration of Jean Royère’s mother’s Parisian apartment in 1947.  Later that year, he exhibited this design at Une résidence française.  The sofa’s curves are the result of a wooden structure, which was assembled according to traditional furniture making techniques and principles.

  • Artist Biography

    Jean Royère

    French • 1902 - 1981

    Jean Royère took on the mantle of the great artistes décorateurs of 1940s France and ran with it into the second half of the twentieth century. Often perceived as outside of the modernist trajectory ascribed to twentieth-century design, Royère was nonetheless informed by and enormously influential to his peers. Having opened a store in Paris in 1943 before the war had ended, he was one of the first to promote a new way of life through interior decoration, and his lively approach found an international audience early on in his career.

    In addition to commissions in Europe and South America, Royère had a strong business in the Middle East where he famously designed homes for the Shah of Iran, King Farouk of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan. The surrealist humor and artist's thoughtful restraint that he brought to his furniture designs continue to draw admiration to this day.

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74

“Ours Polaire” sofa

ca. 1950
Oak, fabric.
31 x 87 x 50 in. (78.7 x 221 x 127 cm)

Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000 

Design & Design Art

13 Dec 2007, 2pm
New York