Five designers who helped define French Art Deco

Over the course of their marriage, Hélène and Gérard Doux assembled one of the finest collections of French Art Deco furniture and furnishings in private hands. They began collecting Art Deco in the late 1980s, acquiring works through leading galleries and auction houses in Paris, Monte Carlo and New York. ‘They were captivated by the ingenuity, elegance and excellent craftsmanship of the great designers of the late 1920s,’ says Capucine Tamboise, specialist and head of sale in the Design department at Christie’s in Paris. ‘Their passion and curiosity evolved into an ambitious and notably coherent collecting project.’

While collecting became a shared pursuit, each took on distinct roles: Gérard was the ambassador for the couple in the public arena, while Hélène carefully documented the works and followed the market. As their collection expanded, so too did their knowledge of the movement and its leading proponents. They enjoyed researching prospective purchases, visiting specialist dealers and galleries, meeting fellow collectors, and touring the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, whose holdings include outstanding Art Deco works from the 1920s and 1930s. Over time, they refined their taste and eye, focusing on a few leading figures, among them Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, their favourite artist.

When they moved to their apartment on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, overlooking the Tuileries, they transformed it into a worthy showcase for the works they had acquired together. It contained seminal pieces by some of the most celebrated names of the French Art Deco movement, including Ruhlmann, Jean Dunand, Pierre Chareau and Jean-Michel Frank. They paid careful attention to the placement of each piece within their home, considering both their inherent quality and the dialogue between different works.

On 26 May 2026, the Design sale at Christie’s in Paris will open with a remarkable group of nearly 50 works from the collection of Gérard and Hélène Doux. Offered alongside major works by Ruhlmann, Chareau and Dunand, will be rugs by Ivan da Silva Bruhns, decorative glass by René Lalique and silver by Jean Puiforcat.

‘This discerning collection offers a particularly refined vision of the elegance and modernity of the interwar period,’ says Tamboise. ‘We’re so thrilled to bring a collection of this calibre to market in the wake of the major centenary exhibition dedicated to Art Deco at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.’

Below, Tamboise highlights five pioneering Art Deco designers whose work is represented in the Gérard and Hélène Doux Collection.

Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann

The son of a decorating contractor, Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann was born in Paris in 1879. He would go on to become one of his country’s most important 20th-century designers. Inspired by France’s great cabinetmaking heritage, Ruhlmann modernised traditional craftsmanship through clean architectural forms, balanced proportions and restrained use of ornamentation. In doing so, he pioneered a new, elegant style that would come to be known as Art Deco.

In the course of his career, Ruhlmann designed a wide array of interior elements, from furniture and lighting to ceramics, carpets and textiles, often incorporating rare and exotic woods, ivory, lacquer and precious metals. His works are prized today for their simplicity, innovative design and extremely fine craftsmanship.

The Douxs collected several significant pieces by Ruhlmann, among them the ‘Vautheret’ ceiling light (circa 1925) in gilt bronze, alabaster and passementerie, which they hung in their dining room. It was designed to provide both direct downlighting and indirect ambient illumination, requiring masterful engineering and an understanding of how materials absorb and reflect light. ‘Ruhlmann devoted particular attention to lighting and is celebrated for elevating it to the status of an artwork,’ says Tamboise. ‘This striking ceiling light beautifully illustrates the Art Deco ethos of fusing handcrafted luxury materials with a modern, minimalist aesthetic.’

Another standout lot is the ‘Triplan’ cabinet, a variant of a model first exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris in 1913. Its elegant elongated lines, balanced proportions and fine ivory marquetry on top make it one of Ruhlmann’s most refined pieces. ‘It embodies Ruhlmann’s desire to create luxurious works in which the complexity of craftsmanship is concealed behind an appearance of effortless simplicity,’ says Tamboise.

Other works by Ruhlmann from the Doux Collection include a Macassar ebony, oak and silver-plated bronze dining table from 1933; an oval coffee table from around 1925; and the ‘Haardt’ easel with integrated light (1926), which was the couple’s last Art Deco acquisition. The auction also features a sofa and a pair of armchairs by Ruhlmann in Macassar ebony, silver-plated bronze and velvet that closely resemble the suite he presented at the 20th Salon des Arts Décoratifs in 1930.

Jean Dunand

Although Jean Dunand is best known today for his metalwork and lacquerware, he worked across many categories, designing everything from vases and belt buckles to tables and armoires. He also designed entire interiors, notably the music room in Mr and Mrs Solomon Guggenheim’s residence in Port Washington, Long Island, in 1925-26. However, it is his works in lacquer — especially those featuring gold leaf, eggshell inlay and mother-of-pearl — that attract most attention at auction.

Among the highly anticipated works by Dunand coming to auction from the Doux Collection is a pair of gold-leaf screens from 1926. While most of Dunand’s screens feature inlaid decorative motifs, this pair reflects a stylistic transition initiated in 1921, when Dunand presented a large panel composed of broad, planar surfaces and simplified forms at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. ‘It’s extremely rare to see screens by Dunand with completely “plain” gold-leaf surfaces,’ says Tamboise. The gold leaf was applied, she explains, using a combination of Asian urushi lacquer methods — which Dunand learnt from the Japanese master Seizo Sugawara — and traditional Western oil-gilding techniques. ‘The extensive use of gold leaf creates a cohesive chromatic composition, which functions as a source of light within the space.’

Armand-Albert Rateau

Armand-Albert Rateau is widely revered for his luxurious patinated bronze furniture, often featuring classical designs and motifs, and his complete interiors for high-profile clients, including the fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin and the art collectors Aline and Charles Liebman.

Aline Liebman first encountered Rateau’s work at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, and soon fell for his distinctive neoclassical interpretation of the Art Deco style.

In 1926, the Liebmans commissioned Rateau to design their bedroom in their duplex apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York. ‘He conceived a cohesive decorative scheme in which every element, from the furniture and lighting to the carpets and wall hangings, was orchestrated with precision,’ says Tamboise, adding that Rateau even designed the key to the bedroom door, which was adorned with the couple’s initials.

A large hand-knotted wool carpet was designed by Rateau for the Liebmans’ bedroom and made by the Manufacture de la Savonnerie in 1926. ‘The stylised vegetal motifs and soft chromatic palette of the carpet would have complemented the nuanced pink tones of the walls beautifully,’ notes the specialist. In addition to this carpet, which the Douxs acquired from Galerie Vallois in Paris in 1999, Rateau designed two smaller ones that were placed on either side of the bed.

Pierre Chareau

As well as being a trained architect, Pierre Chareau was also an interior and furniture designer. Chareau loved exotic woods — notably Macassar ebony, mahogany, rosewood and palm — and liked to play with the contrast of colours and materials, often juxtaposing woods and industrial metals such as iron and steel.

He began exploring the effects of light passing through translucent materials in the early 1920s, which culminated in the design and construction of his modernist masterpiece: the Maison de Verre (‘Glass House’) in Paris, built between 1928 and 1932 for Jean Dalsace and his wife Annie Bernheim. The translucent façade — comprising hollow glass bricks and a heavy steel framework — allowed soft, diffused daylight to flood the interior while maintaining privacy, and transformed the house into a glowing lantern at night. It remains one of the most innovative architectural achievements of the era.

Chareau also designed tables and chairs, mirrors and light fixtures. He saw lighting not merely as a functional necessity, but as a way of defining space and creating ambience. ‘His lighting fixtures often incorporate alabaster and industrial metals, and are so beautifully designed that they look like sculptures even when turned off,’ says Tamboise. Offered from the Doux Collection is a set of six wrought-iron and alabaster wall lights from around 1926. ‘The alabaster would have diffused the light, creating a soft glow and a warm, welcoming atmosphere in the room,’ says Tamboise.

Ivan da Silva Bruhns

Ivan da Silva Bruhns was the leading designer of Art Deco rugs between 1920 and 1940. He studied medicine, serving as a doctor during the First World War, before becoming a self-taught textile artist. In 1925, he established his own atelier and showrooms in Paris, as well as a weaving workshop in Savigny-sur-Orge. He collaborated with leading decorators of the era, including Ruhlmann and Jules Leleu, and created bespoke pieces for private residences, embassies and luxury ocean liners such as the SS Normandie.

Today, his luxurious hand-knotted carpets are prized for their thick piles and their palettes of natural, earthy colours, as well as the bold geometric or abstract patterns that combine modernist, Pre-Columbian and African influences. Acquired by the Douxs from DeLorenzo Gallery in New York, this large, hand-knotted wool carpet was designed by Da Silva Bruhns and made by the Savigny workshop in 1928. With its geometric design and muted tones, it is typical of the artist’s modernist style. The rug was placed beneath the dining table and the ‘Vautheret’ chandelier — both by Ruhlmann — in the Douxs’ dining room. A striking gold-leaf panel (circa 1936) by Emile Aubry and a set of Ruhlmann wall lights completed the look.

The Doux Collection, part of the Design sale at Christie’s in Paris, is on view 21-26 May 2026

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