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Lot Essay
Caricaturiste, créateur de bijoux, publicitaire ou encore directeur artistique pour Cecil B. de Mille à Hollywood, Paul Iribe (1883-1935) multiplie les activités durant une carrière aussi brève qu’intense interrompue à seulement 52 ans. Si Iribe ne consacre que quelques années à la création de meubles, celle-ci se concentre autour de pièces presque exclusivement uniques et destinées à une clientèle aussi raffinée que fortunée. Réalisées pour la plupart au début des années 1910, ses pièces annoncent le renouvellement Art Déco des années 1920, tout en leur opposant une esthétique résolument différente, faites de courbes fluides et de détails précieux invoquant sans servilité l’élégance des meubles des grands ébénistes du XVIIIe siècle que Paul Iribe admire tant. Bien qu’Iribe ait depuis toujours une fascination pour la décoration d’intérieure - en témoigne le dessin très minutieux des différents meubles dépeints dans ses caricatures - c’est probablement la découverte du mobilier du Munich Werkbund au Salon d’Automne de 1910 qui entraine une profonde réflexion chez l’artiste sur la nécessité d’un mobilier adapté à la vie moderne. Comme les allemands, il souhaite renouveler les formes, à leur différence cependant, Iribe réfute l’idée que le mobilier puisse être produit de manière industrielle : c’est la complémentarité entre un artisanat hautement qualifiée et le concepteur qui doit faire la spécificité de l’œuvre.
L’artiste s’entoure de professionnels de haute volée, tels que Clément Rousseau, Pierre Bompard ou encore Pierre-Emile Legrain, futur relieur et ancien assistant d’Iribe responsable de la conception de minuscules maquettes en carton au réalisme saisissant. Dès 1912, Iribe répond à de prestigieuses commandes, notamment celles des intérieurs de Robert de Rothschild, Claude Farrère ou Spinelly, mais c’est le couturier Jacques Doucet qui le fait entrer dans la légende des arts décoratifs en lui demandant de décorer son appartement de l’avenue Foch. Ses créations étant pour la plupart uniques - comme l’est très certainement l’œuvre présentée ici - Iribe ne présente pas ses pièces au Salon d’Automne ou au Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, préférant dévoiler à de rares collectionneurs ses meubles d’exception.
Paul Iribe (1883-1935) packed his brief but intense career with a multitude of activities; amongst other things, he was a satirical illustrator, a jewellery designer and an advertising executive, as well as an artistic director for Cecil B. de Mille in Hollywood. All this came to an abrupt end when he passed away at just 52 years of age. Iribe only devoted a few years to designing furniture. Most of the pieces he produced were almost exclusively unique and intended for a clientele that was as refined as it was wealthy. Made for the most part in the early 1910s, his pieces heralded the Art Deco revival of the 1920s, although they embodied decidedly different aesthetics, with their flowing curves and precious details unabashedly invoking the elegance of the furniture of the great 18th-century cabinetmakers that Paul Iribe admired so much. Although Iribe had always had a fascination for interior design - as evidenced by the meticulous design of the various pieces of furniture depicted in his illustrations - it was probably when he discovered the furniture of the Munich Werkbund at the Salon d'Automne in 1910 that the artist began to seriously reflect on the need for furniture that was tailored to modern life. Like the Germans, he wanted to update the shapes of furniture, but unlike the Germans, Iribe refuted the idea that furniture could be produced industrially: it was the complementarity between a highly skilled craftsman and the designer that should make the work distinctive.
The artist worked with top-flight professionals such as Clément Rousseau, Pierre Bompard and Pierre-Emile Legrain, who would become a bookbinder but who had been Iribe's assistant and designed tiny cardboard models of striking realism. Iribe began accepting prestigious commissions as early as 1912, notably for the interiors of Robert de Rothschild, Claude Farrère and Spinelly, but it was the couturier Jacques Doucet who made him a legend in the decorative arts by asking him to decorate his apartment on Avenue Foch. Since most of Iribe’s creations were one-offs - as is most certainly the work presented here - he did not present his pieces at the Salon d'Automne or the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, preferring to unveil his exceptional furniture to a few select collectors.
L’artiste s’entoure de professionnels de haute volée, tels que Clément Rousseau, Pierre Bompard ou encore Pierre-Emile Legrain, futur relieur et ancien assistant d’Iribe responsable de la conception de minuscules maquettes en carton au réalisme saisissant. Dès 1912, Iribe répond à de prestigieuses commandes, notamment celles des intérieurs de Robert de Rothschild, Claude Farrère ou Spinelly, mais c’est le couturier Jacques Doucet qui le fait entrer dans la légende des arts décoratifs en lui demandant de décorer son appartement de l’avenue Foch. Ses créations étant pour la plupart uniques - comme l’est très certainement l’œuvre présentée ici - Iribe ne présente pas ses pièces au Salon d’Automne ou au Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, préférant dévoiler à de rares collectionneurs ses meubles d’exception.
Paul Iribe (1883-1935) packed his brief but intense career with a multitude of activities; amongst other things, he was a satirical illustrator, a jewellery designer and an advertising executive, as well as an artistic director for Cecil B. de Mille in Hollywood. All this came to an abrupt end when he passed away at just 52 years of age. Iribe only devoted a few years to designing furniture. Most of the pieces he produced were almost exclusively unique and intended for a clientele that was as refined as it was wealthy. Made for the most part in the early 1910s, his pieces heralded the Art Deco revival of the 1920s, although they embodied decidedly different aesthetics, with their flowing curves and precious details unabashedly invoking the elegance of the furniture of the great 18th-century cabinetmakers that Paul Iribe admired so much. Although Iribe had always had a fascination for interior design - as evidenced by the meticulous design of the various pieces of furniture depicted in his illustrations - it was probably when he discovered the furniture of the Munich Werkbund at the Salon d'Automne in 1910 that the artist began to seriously reflect on the need for furniture that was tailored to modern life. Like the Germans, he wanted to update the shapes of furniture, but unlike the Germans, Iribe refuted the idea that furniture could be produced industrially: it was the complementarity between a highly skilled craftsman and the designer that should make the work distinctive.
The artist worked with top-flight professionals such as Clément Rousseau, Pierre Bompard and Pierre-Emile Legrain, who would become a bookbinder but who had been Iribe's assistant and designed tiny cardboard models of striking realism. Iribe began accepting prestigious commissions as early as 1912, notably for the interiors of Robert de Rothschild, Claude Farrère and Spinelly, but it was the couturier Jacques Doucet who made him a legend in the decorative arts by asking him to decorate his apartment on Avenue Foch. Since most of Iribe’s creations were one-offs - as is most certainly the work presented here - he did not present his pieces at the Salon d'Automne or the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, preferring to unveil his exceptional furniture to a few select collectors.