Floor Lamp, mod. SN31 'La Religieuse'
Designer
Pierre Chareau
Year
circa 1927
Design Museum Section
French Design Icons
French Art Deco
Categories
Floor lights
Designheroes ID
5411
Auction House
Artcurial
Headquarter
Paris, France
Availability
sold
Condition
pre-owned/vintage
Sale name
Art Deco / Design
Sale Location
Paris, France
Floor Lamp, mod. SN31 'La Religieuse'
Carved oak "S" shaped legs resting on a patinated hammered iron blade. Lampshade in cream fabric, refurbished
circa 1927
H: 58.27 in. (base only) - 72 in. (with lampshade). / H.: 148 cm (base only) - H.: 183 cm (with lampshade)
Catalog note
The first example of La Religieuse by Pierre Chareau was created in 1923. It is available in three sizes and in several variations: the more or less undulating shape of its base, the material (wood or metal), the use of a fabric or parchment lampshade, or combinations of alabaster plates mounted on a metal frame. An emblematic creation of Pierre Chareau, La Religieuse appears in many of the architect's designs: the apartments of the Dalsace family, Daniel Dreyfus, Helena Rubinstein and Chana Orloff, and the lounge of the Grand Hôtel de Tours. Pierre Chareau also regularly includes this piece in the ensembles he presents at annual fairs. Mallet-Stevens, who supervised the creation of the movie sets for Marcel L'Herbier's " L'Inhumaine " (1924), chose Pierre Chareau's Religieuse, along with other furniture and works of the avant-garde of the time, to set the stage for this film, symbolizing the modern spirit of the 1920s.
The model presented today is the only one in this version known to date.Its base, very rolled up, is undoubtedly the most sculptural and airy of the known models. The line is undulating, light and dynamic, like a folded sheet of paper or a fabric's draping. Here, Chareau takes the constructive idea that presides over the creation of La Religieuse to its most accomplished degree. The trick to compensate for the construction's finesse is the use of a metal arch (a wood- metal association dear to the creator) which stabilizes the sculpture's base while preserving the design's flexibility and vertical momentum.This base is undoubtedly the wooden version of La Religieuse that is closest to the bent and folded sheet metal copy preserved in the collections of the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. (Artcurial)
The model presented today is the only one in this version known to date.Its base, very rolled up, is undoubtedly the most sculptural and airy of the known models. The line is undulating, light and dynamic, like a folded sheet of paper or a fabric's draping. Here, Chareau takes the constructive idea that presides over the creation of La Religieuse to its most accomplished degree. The trick to compensate for the construction's finesse is the use of a metal arch (a wood- metal association dear to the creator) which stabilizes the sculpture's base while preserving the design's flexibility and vertical momentum.This base is undoubtedly the wooden version of La Religieuse that is closest to the bent and folded sheet metal copy preserved in the collections of the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. (Artcurial)
Literature
Ernest Tisserand, "Du studio au salon", L'Art Vivant, 15 April 1926, n°32, p. 305, for a variant of our model in the flat of Doctor Dalsace.
Intérieur et ameublement modernes, Éditions Eugène Moreau Paris 1927, pl. 22 for a variant of our model in the flat of Doctor Dalsace.
Encyclopédie des Métiers d'Art, Décoration Moderne, tome 1, pl. 58-59, for a model similar to ours in a salon of the Grand Hôtel de Tours.
Marc Vellay, Kenneth Frampton, Pierre Chareau: architecte-meublier, Paris, Les éditions du Regard, 1984, p. 50 and p. 70, for a model similar to ours in the Grand Hôtel de Tours.
Olivier Cinqualbre (under the direction of), Pierre Chareau, architecte, un art intérieur, Paris, Éditions du Centre Pompidou, 1993, p. 191 for a model similar to ours in a salon of the Grand Hôtel de Tours.
Intérieur et ameublement modernes, Éditions Eugène Moreau Paris 1927, pl. 22 for a variant of our model in the flat of Doctor Dalsace.
Encyclopédie des Métiers d'Art, Décoration Moderne, tome 1, pl. 58-59, for a model similar to ours in a salon of the Grand Hôtel de Tours.
Marc Vellay, Kenneth Frampton, Pierre Chareau: architecte-meublier, Paris, Les éditions du Regard, 1984, p. 50 and p. 70, for a model similar to ours in the Grand Hôtel de Tours.
Olivier Cinqualbre (under the direction of), Pierre Chareau, architecte, un art intérieur, Paris, Éditions du Centre Pompidou, 1993, p. 191 for a model similar to ours in a salon of the Grand Hôtel de Tours.
Object
Floor Lamp, mod. SN31 'La Religieuse'
Designer
Pierre Chareau
Year
circa 1927
Design Museum Section
French Design Icons
French Art Deco
Categories
Floor lights
Designheroes ID
5411
Auction House
Artcurial
Headquarter
Paris, France
Availability
sold
Condition
pre-owned/vintage
Sale name
Art Deco / Design
Sale Location
Paris, France
