Louis Süe was a man of many artistic talents who excelled in a range of disciplines in the Parisian design scene of the early 20th century. He was a painter, furniture maker, decorator and architect — he drew on traditional design but sought to make modernist work. His best known furniture designs included wall mirrors, console tables and armchairs created in the elegant Art Deco style, and his interior designs spanned private residences and passenger liners.
Süe was born in Bordeaux and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1893. In 1902, his work was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants, and he continued exhibiting at Parisian salons over the course of his career. Beginning in 1903, Süe collaborated with other artists to create workshops and cooperative businesses in the city.
One of the most significant partnerships of Süe's career was with French artist and textile designer André Mare, with whom Süe became acquainted while working at an interior design firm called L’Atelier Français. In 1919–20, the pair, known as Süe et Mare, founded the Compagnie des Arts Français, which specialized in furniture, tapestries, wallpaper and silverware. The founders intended to draw on 18th-century furniture to create modern works and were inspired by Cubism and Art Nouveau and created forward-looking Art Deco designs that are widely celebrated today.
Inspired by the work of Austrian collective Wiener Werkstätte, Süe and Mare grew a successful business at the Compagnie des Arts Français, mass-producing furnishings and objects, taking on a range of wealthy clients and employing artists such as Marie Laurencin, Paul Vera and Fernand Léger. One of their interior design projects was the Polish Embassy in Paris. In 1925, Süe and Mare designed the Fontaine & Cie Pavilion at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, which featured works by André Groult, Maurice Dufrêne and others.
The Compagnie des Arts Français struggled financially toward the end of the 1920s and was sold to the owners of the French department store Galeries Lafayette. Jacques Adnet, who was working with Dufrêne at the decorative arts atelier of Galeries Lafayette, was appointed artistic director of the Compagnie and steered the firm in a different direction.
After Süe left the Compagnie, he worked as an independent architect and designer. Some of his notable projects include the Basque villa of French fashion designer Jean Patou, completed in 1931, and the reconstruction of Hôtel Hesselin in Paris, completed in 1937.
Süe became the treasurer of the Société des artistes décorateurs in 1936 and was named the society president in 1939. That was also the year he designed the French Village for the New York World's Fair. During World War II, he lived in Istanbul and lectured at the Institute of Fine Arts. He returned to France after the war and passed away in Paris in 1968.
In 2021, around 30 pieces of furniture by Süe et Mare from the estate of German-born fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld went to auction at Sotheby's. Many of Süe's designs are held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On 1stDibs, find antique Louis Süe tables, seating, mirrors and more.
$640Sale Price|77% Off
Louis Sue & André Mare Watercolor, Flowers, Signed, Circa 1930, Collection ESSEF
By Louis Sue, Andre Mare
Located in Encino, CA
Louis Sue & André Mare (1875-1968) - (1885-1932) Five sketches "Flowers circa 1930" Very rare watercolor on paper. Without frame: H 13" x W 17" ...
Paper
Sold|$630
H 7 in W 6.25 in D 1.5 in
1829 Signed English Watercolor Portrait with Scandalous Inscription
By Mr. King
Located in Katonah, NY
This signed English watercolor portrait, dated 1829 and inscribed “Painted by Mr. King,” depicts Hanah Tichbon as a young woman dressed in white, wearing a gold chain and cross and h...
Wood, Paper
"Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, " Superb Art Deco Ink & Watercolor
By Maurice Greenberg
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Superbly executed in watercolor and ink, this charming and lovely depiction of Mother Goose nursery rhyme characters -- including Humpty Dumpty, The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, The Three Little Pigs and Old King Cole -- was created by Maurice Greenberg...
Ink, Watercolor, Paper
Louis Roy (Attributed) Impressionist Painting
By Louis Roy
Located in New York, NY
Fabulous small Impressionist painting attributed to French painter, Louis George Eleonor Roy (1862-1907) either gouache or water color on ...
Paper, Canvas, Giltwood
Original Model Drawing by André Courrèges for Diana Vreeland
By André Courrèges
Located in Pawtucket, RI
Wonderful historical pen and ink illustration on board by Courrèges of his models done for and notated to Diana Vreeland. Great piece of fashion history. Framed in an original plexig...
Paper
Framed Mexican Watercolor on Paper Attributed to Rufino Tamayo
By Rufino Tamayo
Located in Atlanta, GA
A framed watercolor and gouache on paper depicting sliced watermelon on a color block background, signed Tamayo and dated 1945 as shown. The work was in keeping with the style of Rufino Tamayo and it retains a paper label from Salon de la Plastica Mexicana, listing the detail info. SPM was formed in 1949 to promote contemporary Mexican artists...
Paper
$570Sale Price|40% Off
H 16.75 in W 13.5 in D 1 in
Watercolor signed by the 4th Earl of Aylesford (1751-1812)
Located in Kittery Point, ME
Inside of Church situated as St John’s Chester, Chancel (lower right). At lower left, "Painted by Aylesfod". Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford, was a known watercolorist specializ...
Paper
Orientalist Watercolor of a Middle-Eastern Beauty, Circa 1890
By Francesco Ballesio 2
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Francesco Ballesio (Italian, 1860-1923). A fine orientalist pencil and watercolor heightened with gum Arabic on paper figure of "A Middle-Eastern Beauty at Rest" depicting a young maiden resting on a Persian rug laid down as a bed while holding a tambourine and next to a Moroccan ivory-inlaid octagonal table with a tea pot on top. Signed and inscribed 'Ballesio Roma Tivoli' (upper right). All within an ornate rococo gilt wood and gesso carved frame with a protective glass, Rome, circa 1890-1900, Frame height: 23 inches (58.4 cm). Frame width: 30 1/2 inches (30.5 cm). Frame depth: 2 1/4 inches (5.7 cm). Paper height: 15 inches (38.1 cm). Paper width: 21 1/2 inches (54.7 cm). Literature: A similar subject matter watercolor is catalogued and illustrated in Caroline Juler, "Les Orientalistes...
Gesso, Glass, Wood, Paper
$522Sale Price|45% Off
H 15.75 in W 13 in D 1 in
Watercolor signed by the Reverend James Bourne (1773-1854)
Located in Kittery Point, ME
St Clair, Isles of Wight (as situated at back of drawing). James Bourne was a known landscape artist specialized in watercolors who exposed his works at the Royal Academy in the earl...
Paper
$1,260Sale Price|30% Off
H 9 in W 12 in D 1 in
Midcentury Abstract Expressionist Watercolor Painting, Salvatore Grippi, Blue
By Salvatore Grippi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This ink and watercolor figurative abstract expressionist piece on paper is signed by its creator, noted New York School artist Salvatore Grippi. Though undated, the piece is fits in...
Paper
French Drawing in Pen and Gouache by André Arbus, Paris, 1938
By André Arbus
Located in New York, NY
Gouache and pen work by André Arbus (1903-1969). Signed Andre Arbus. Origin: Drawing of dining table by Andre Arbus for the apartment of Mme Pedersen, Paris, 1938. Literature:...
Original French Architectural Watercolor
Located in Pembroke, MA
An original French pen and ink and watercolored drawing of a "Module Egypto-Grec", in the Beaux Arts style (circa 1850). The watercolored drawing has been recently matted and framed in a custom Larson Juhl...
Paint, Paper
View of Central Park Watercolor by John Vander Bilt C1935
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Nice original watercolor of a footbridge over a pond in Central Park NYC. Skyscrapers of the day in the background. In excellent vintage condition with minimal wear, needs a new mat....
Paint, Paper, Glass, Hardwood