Pair of Campaign Style Benches In Oak And Leather By Jean-Michel Frank

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Pair of Campaign Style Benches In Oak And Leather By Jean-Michel Frank

About the Item

Jean-Michel Frank (1895-1941) was one of the most influential and original designers of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1920s, he developed a following among the Parisian cognoscenti for his elegantly understated furnishings and interiors. Typical of his designs was a radical simplification of form, rendered in texturally rich materials such as limed oak, parchment, straw marquetry, iron and leather. In 1930, Frank entered into a partnership with Adolph Chanaux, who had already been executing his furniture designs. He acted as creative director for Chanaux & Company, and in 1935 the two would open a boutique under Frank’s name on rue Faubourg-Saint-Honoré dedicated to his designs and those of his artist and architect collaborators, such as Christian Bérard and Emilio Terry. Frank soon developed an international following, thanks in part to influential tastemakers such as Syrie Maughm in England and Francis Elkins in the United States that helped to nurture local interest in his designs. In Argentina, Ignacio Pirovano, interior designer and curator at the National Museum of Decorative Arts, proved to be an effective champion of Frank’s work. Pirovano co-founded the firm Comte in 1932 to provide fine interior decor for the local market and began importing Frank models from Paris for placement in design projects as well as for retail sale. In 1936, Comte entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Frank to produce his designs locally, and by 1937 the firm had set up a workshop to execute these models, as well as a broader offering of period and contemporary designs. Frank completed a string of private projects in Argentina starting in the late 1930s, including the vast interiors for the home of Jorge Born and Maria Frías Ayerza Born (completed 1940) and the public spaces of the Llao Llao Hotel in Patagonia (1938). With the onset of the second world war, Frank immigrated to Argentina and briefly became creative director for Comte, appointing a number interiors for local society figures. This striking pair of X-form folding campaign-style benches are constructed of stained and carved Slovenian oak and the original stitched leather. The benches can be folded inward along the central "axle" of the frame. A leather strap is strung across the top for support, on which sits a stitched leather cover that is weighted on the ends to hold its shape. Executed by Comte 1937-early 1940s, the frames are impressed with the firm's numbering, “14443” on one and “14444” the other. Literature: Mo Amelia Teitelbaum, The Stylemakers: Minimalism and Classic Modernism 1915-1945, London, 2010, pg. 229 Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Jean-Michel Frank: The Strange and Subtle Luxury of the Parisian Haute-Monde in the Art Deco Period, New York, 2008, pgs. 179, 199 Léopold Diego Sanchez, Jean-Michel Frank: Adolphe Channaux, Paris, 1997, pg. 215

Creator:
Jean-Michel Frank (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 19 in (48.26 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)Depth: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)Seat Height: 19 in (48.26 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Materials and Techniques:
Oak,Stained
Place of Origin:
Argentina
Period:
1930-1939
Date of Manufacture:
1937-early 1940s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU9141936838

Shop All Jean-Michel Frank

Jean-Michel Frank

For French interior and furniture designer Jean-Michel Frank (1895–1941), history always had a great allure. He once wrote, “The noble frames that came to us from the past can receive today’s creations.” His career celebrated heritage while promoting new modes of 20th-century design, and it flourished between the World Wars when Frank designed interiors that tastefully mixed extravagance with sophisticated simplicity, often featuring pieces he made with his business partner, cabinetmaker Adolphe Chanaux.

It took personal tragedy for Frank to realize his calling. Frank had been exempted from the World War I draft due to his physical frailty but his brothers both served and died on the front. When his German father applied for French naturalization, he was rejected and placed under house arrest, killing himself shortly after. His mother went into a deep depression and began undergoing psychiatric treatment and died a few years later.

With his large inheritance, Frank joined the Paris culture crowd and there got his start in the burgeoning field of interior design. His signature style, which became known as “luxe pauvre” — “impoverished luxury” — was characterized by clean lines, mixed materials and hard-to-miss details. His interiors for clients including Nelson Rockefeller and Elsa Schiaparelli featured artwork by modern creators like Diego and Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Favoring the color white, he would consider each element of his spartan rooms as part of the whole, from bronze doors to plush antique furnishings, always tastefully rich yet never decadent. He worked on furniture with Chanaux that reinforced this austere style. Some of his most well-known furniture pieces, including the Croisillon table lamps, the Parsons table, brass tripod gueridons and the leather Comfortable chairs that used the Hermès saddle stitch, are extremely simple in their elegant appearance. This attention to refined details, simple luxury and the cohesion of design in a room made him one of the leading tastemakers of 1930s Paris.

After fleeing the Nazi occupation of France (he was part of a Jewish family that included his distant cousin, the diarist Anne Frank), Frank arrived in New York where he killed himself at the age of 46. His commitment to creating home interiors where comfort and fine art could merge and styles could mix in harmony remains influential in design.

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