Rene Gabriel Buffets

René Gabriel Oak Sideboard (France, 1940s) "Il faut que l'art descende dans la rue." "Art must come down into the street." — René Gabriel A masterpiece of post-war French design, t...

Introducing an extraordinary oak sideboard attributed to the renowned designer René Gabriel. This exceptional piece showcases Gabriel's signature style and attention to detail while...

Oak buffet with 2 Doors and 3 Drawers by René Gabriel, 1940s René Gabriel (1899 - 1950) is a precursor of French industrial design. He was one of the first to create, as early as the 1930s, economical mass-produced furniture combining aestheticism, robustness and sobriety, a source of inspiration for a whole generation of future designers. A student at the Germain Pilon School and then at the National School of Decorative Arts, René Gabriel began as a domino maker by designing and producing his own wallpapers, and then made his mark as a decorative artist in most of the salons and international exhibitions of the inter-war period. In 1927, he began his research into the creation of mass-produced furniture and proposed a piece of furniture composed of juxtaposable and superposable elements. He studied an economical version that he presented in 1934 at the Salon des arts ménagers under the name of RG elements. Another major turning point came in 1944, when the Ministry of Reconstruction and Urban Planning commissioned him to create emergency furniture. A fervent advocate of furniture for all, René Gabriel designed numerous models for disaster victims by establishing close ties with industry. He also collaborated with Auguste Perret...