Hervé Van der Straeten’s sculptural furnishings ‘transcend all trends’

Hervé Van der Straeten has long eschewed creative constraints. ‘My design philosophy has always evolved around freedom and being able to make whatever I wanted,’ the French designer tells Christie’s. An École des Beaux-Arts graduate, he initially began making jewellery in the mid-1980s before establishing his revered bronze and woodworking workshops two decades later. ‘I’m always aiming to create concepts that are very strong and graphic, but as you get closer to the pieces, you discover the quality and craftsmanship of the materials.’

Van der Straeten’s wide-ranging designs have become national treasures — not only did he conceive the iconic gold-ringed J’Adore perfume bottle for Dior in the 1990s, but his furnishings have pride of place at Élysée Palace, the official residence of the President of France, as well as in the homes of many of the world’s top art collectors.

When the interior designer Brian Murphy was tasked with designing a prominent American art collector’s New York City apartment in the mid-2000s, he turned to Van der Straeten for the perfect pieces. The brief, as the French designer remembers, called for ‘furnishings that were impactful but did not compete with the art.’ The collection included Jean Michel-Basquiat’s 1981 Untitled, as well as works by Alexander Calder and Jean Dubuffet, amongst others.

Beginning this June, the sprawling Fifth Avenue residence’s furnishings, several of which were made bespoke by Van der Straeten, will be offered across Christie’s New York sales, starting with the Design auction on 7 June. Subsequent sales will include Design on 13 December, followed by Modern Collector on 1 March 2025.

After working on the client’s San Francisco house, designed in an opulent French Régence style, Murphy opted for something ‘modern, yet classical’ for their Manhattan home. ‘When I went to Hervé’s studio in Paris, I was amazed by the quality of his pieces and the uniqueness and sculptural aspects of his work. Even today I think his pieces are unlike anyone else’s,’ Murphy tells Christie’s.

Van der Straeten’s patinated and polished metallic furnishings complemented colourful works by Yves Klein, Claes Oldenburg and more. Van der Straeten attributes his love of bronze to his origins in jewellery, though he frequently works with wood, while also experimenting with more unusual materials. Parchment, lacquer, marquetry, stones, crystals and anodised aluminium infuse his designs with exquisite details and finishes.

In certain instances, collaborating with Murphy pushed Van der Straeten to expand his palette. One of the unique works he created for the Fifth Avenue residence is a chest of drawers in a robin’s egg blue lacquered wood with vertical patinated bronze stripes. ‘I would never have chosen that strong of a blue, but the result is quite striking,’ says Van der Straeten.

Lighting and furniture that capture ‘a sense of movement’ are another signature look for the designer. In the Manhattan apartment, a pair of gilt bronze ‘Tourbillon’ floor lamps evoke swirling twigs, while chandeliers featuring crystal balls flood the rooms with light. The ‘Bubbling’ chandelier comprises a halo of crystal orbs, while the ‘Billes’ chandelier is nearly entirely covered in them.

In addition to eye-catching lighting, Van der Straeten has a penchant for architectural console tables. Two iterations in the client’s home can also be found in his own: the ‘Passage Inox’ console, a poly-mirror stainless steel design featuring five arches, and the ‘Piercing’ console, an asymmetric, poly-mirror stainless steel style with lacquered wood feet. Van der Straeten describes the latter as ‘the convergence of a cylinder and a rectangle,’ hence the volume’s striking cutout.

Another design Van der Straeten has in his own home is the ‘Dada’ mirror, composed of three concentric amorphous circles, each with different patterns in patinated and polished bronze. ‘I named this mirror after Dada because followers of the movement would write or sketch without thinking too much,’ he explains, likening the mirror to a doodle one makes while talking on the telephone. ‘The intention was not about designing something but just to let the mind go.’

Van der Straeten considers his ‘main source of inspiration’ to be the freedom found in modern and contemporary art. ‘I use so many materials and have a large vocabulary of shapes and designs,’ he says, citing Piet Mondrian, Constantin Brancusi and the American sculptor Tom Friedman’s ever-evolving practice. Van der Straeten is also passionate about architecture and the history of decorative arts from around the globe, especially the simplicity and refinement of Japanese craft.

These myriad influences come through in Van der Straeten’s furnishings, which are as dynamic as the interiors in which they reside. At one point during the design process of the Fifth Avenue apartment, Murphy recalls he thought, ‘Am I getting lazy with too much Hervé?’ Confident in the unique furnishings’ quality and innovative design, Murphy cast his doubts aside: ‘I think Hervé’s pieces will stand the test of time and transcend all trends.’