Lacquered Cabinet by Michel Dufet, 1930s

While he’s among the lesser-known figures associated with the Art Deco style, Michel Dufet enjoyed a prolific career as an architect, painter and art critic throughout the 20th century, creating sophisticated and functional furniture that is today collected worldwide.

In 1913, Dufet founded the Mobilier Artistique Modern (MAM) decorating workshop, which produced a range of modern furniture, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper. Additionally, he pursued other creative interests, such as publishing the magazine Feuillets d’Art in 1918 with poet and dramatist Paul Claudel, Nobel Prize-winning author André Gide, novelist Marcel Proust and composer Gabriel Fauré.

From 1922 to 1927, Dufet worked as director of design at South America’s largest interior design company, Red Star, based in Rio de Janeiro. While he was in Brazil, he sold MAM to the firm P. A. Dumas in 1924. 

In 1928, Dufet returned to Paris to oversee the Atelier d’Art du Bûcheron’s Le Sylve design studio with art critic Léandre Vaillant. While there, Dufet became known for using exotic woods such as satinwood, walnut, mahogany and rosewood, as well as introducing subtle Cubist flourishes in designs for commodes, cabinets, dining room tables and buffets. Dufet’s chunky armchairs and club chairs were characterized by a distinctly geometric style which meant that armrests and bases typically took on overtly square or semi-circle forms.

Throughout the 1930s, Dufet received several design commissions, including set designs for theaters and films and interiors for luxury ocean liners. He also became editor-in-chief of the bi-monthly publication Décor d’Aujourd’hui (Today’s Décor) in 1933.

In later years, Dufet continued designing furniture, albeit to a lesser degree. In 1947, he married the daughter of French sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and dedicated the bulk of his time to preserving the legacy and works of his father-in-law from 1950 onward. In 1972, Dufet became curator of the Musée Bourdelle, eventually retiring before his death in 1985.

Throughout his long and distinguished design career, Dufet participated in several exhibitions, beginning with the Salon des Artistes Français in 1914. In 1937, he exhibited at the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne with designer René Gabriel and designed the French Pavillion for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City.

Today, Dufet’s pieces remain highly sought by architects, interior designers and collectors of modernist Art Deco furniture.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of antique and vintage Michel Dufet seating, tables, case pieces and storage cabinets.