Important 'Aragon' Low Table, circa 1937

Jean-Michel Frank, a pioneer in the Art Deco movement, revolutionized interior design with his impeccable taste and refined understanding of materials. Known for his minimalistic approach and elegant simplicity, Frank transformed the world of decorative arts, shifting away from the extravagance of the Art Deco style to create spaces that were both luxurious and deeply introspective. His work was not about excessive ornamentation but rather about bringing out the raw beauty of the materials themselves: parchment, leather, shagreen, straw marquetry, wicker, and the elegance of pared-back, yet profoundly graceful, forms.

A master of restraint, Frank was not merely a decorator, but a poet of the spaces he created. His designs, such as the serene and sculptural pieces for the homes of the most discerning clients, including Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, Nancy Cunard, and Elsa Schiaparelli, speak to a timeless elegance that transcends trends. His furniture was more than functional and often invited meditation, encouraging the viewer to reflect on the pure, unadorned beauty of the material itself.

Frances Elkins shared a close professional and personal relationship with Jean-Michel Frank, whose approach to interior decoration resonated with her own philosophy. Elkins found in Frank a kindred spirit in their shared taste for combining sophisticated elegance with functional simplicity. His emphasis on understated luxury and spatial purity aligned perfectly with her vision of creating interiors that were both beautifully curated and remarkably livable. This connection led Elkins to commission Frank for many of her projects including Mr. and Mrs. Zellerbach’s house in 1937. By enlisting Frank’s expertise, Elkins ensured that the interiors would possess an air of timeless elegance, further enhancing the refined and artistic nature of the Zellerbach home. The Aragon Low Table was placed in the Bar and became an integral part of this luxurious and introspective space, reflecting both Frank’s poetic sensibilities and Elkins’ discerning taste for lasting beauty.

Designed in 1928, the Aragon low table is one of Frank’s masterpieces that captures the raw, primal beauty of nature, perfectly showcasing Frank’s unique ability to imbue simplicity with powerful narrative and emotion. Its rectangular top, seemingly carved from a single block, rests upon thick, notched legs that evoke the quiet strength and endurance of weathered wood. The sandblasted surface, reminiscent of materials worn by time and the sea, gives the table an organic, almost ancient feel, as though it had been shaped by nature itself.

This table, which Frank named in honor of his friend and patron, the surrealist poet Louis Aragon, embodies his belief in the evocative power of materials. Its austere, almost brutal simplicity transforms the very space it inhabits into a meditation on time, history, and the fleeting nature of beauty. Every detail, every curve, invites us into a world where the lines between art, object, and space blur to create an atmosphere of sublime elegance. In the hands of Jean-Michel Frank, even the most basic of forms become a profound experience, and the Aragon low table remains one of his most alluring tributes to the power of minimalistic design celebrated by Jean Cocteau after his tragic premature passing in 1941.

‘In this era, where single-price style has wreaked havoc, where every measure is a half-measure, where the slightest audacity is a crime, we admire Jean-Michel Frank's objects and decors with grave tenderness. For, to our friend, luxury was simplicity.’
– Jean Cocteau, “Adieu à Jean-Michel Frank,” Art et Industrie, Paris, November 1945, p. 18