Beginning November 7, 2014, Demisch Danant will present Paris Match: Henri Samuel and the Artists He Commissioned, 1968-1977, an exhibition exploring the legendary decorator and international tastemaker’s unique engagement with French fine artists through the furniture and functional objects he commissioned in the 1970s from such figures as César, Francois Arnal, Philippe Hiquily, Guy de Rougemont, and Diego Giacometti. Acclaimed as one of the first experts in mixing design genres and periods, Samuel was also one of the very first to invite contemporary artists to making furnishings. His remarkable talent for unexpected juxtapositions became the keystone of “the Samuel style” and his eclectic sophistication challenged the prevailing bourgeois notion of “matching” interiors.

On view through January 31, 2015, Paris Match will present rare furnishings by these artists, most never before exhibited publicly. The exhibition is the latest in an ongoing series in which Demisch Danant is examining and exalting pathbreaking French design of the 20th century.

The period between the late 1960s and mid-1970s witnessed the emergence of a new era of design and artistic expression in France. It was an exciting moment marked by leaps of creative daring in every field, and rich with an eagerness to know and experience different mediums and forms of expression beyond the old, accepted boundaries. Artists and industrial designers formed collectives like Atelier A, and reflected a new social context characterized by experimentation; they challenged the definitions of modern design by incorporating new materials, humor, and spirit in the creation of objects of daily life. Paris Match offers a window onto this period of change and shifting tastes.