made In Fance
Jacques Dumond
October 2016
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"Late this summer, I received an email from Stephane about a rare desk by Jacques Dumond that had just become available: It’s an iconic piece, the ancestor of the Philippon and Lecoq desk from 1953! Only one in Musée des Arts Décoratifs and this one, which was until today in a dealer’s private collection and not for sale, but today it is … the piece I have been waiting to have for years to launch the Dumond story.
The desk was originally designed for a collector’s apartment in Neuilly c. 1953. What is important about the work is not only that it’s a rare example, but that it establishes Dumond at the forefront of French modern post-war design. A larger version of this desk was exhibited at the first Triennale d’Art Fran.ais Contemporain in 1956 at the Pavillon de Marsan. The exhibition had a tremendous impact on a new generation of young designers in France and from it, you start to see a new wave of furniture being made from glass, including the Philippon and Lecoq desk from 1959/60, and the Motte desk from 1963, and many others.
We will present the desk for the first time at TEFAF Maastricht in March 2017."
Suzanne Demisch
About Dumond
Jacques Dumond (1906–1988), often called “Le Patron,” was an architect as much as a decorator. His avant garde vision placed him as one of the key figures of the French post-war design movement along with contemporaries like Jean-Michel Frank, Marc du Plantier, and Jacques Quinet. Furthermore, Dumond also inspired the next generation of designers (i.e. Pierre Guariche, Joseph-André Motte, Philippon and Lecoq) to continue the development of his concepts of modernity, minimal forms, and use of modern materials and color.
After brief studies at the Ecole Boulle, the Paris Exhibition of 1925 attracted Dumond to the path of modernity. Dumond’s real career began in 1943 when he created an ergonomic rattan chair with undulating lines and in 1945, he became member of the Union des Artistes Modernes and the Decorators Society of Artists.
The post war period was particularly active for Dumond and with Louis Sognot, he participated in the first study on furniture in series and the use of molded plywood. Dumond also trained and collaborated with a number of young talented designers of the period (including Etienne Fermigier and Andr. Monpoix), giving them total freedom to express their ideas, which were often integrated into his projects.
The influence of Dumond also extends to his promotion and use of Formica, a new material known for its clean aesthetic, and possibility for expression of color. Still remaining attached to his private clients and public commissions, Dumond asserted that luxury was the engine in the evolution of the French decorative arts. In 1951, he participated in the exhibition “Evidence” and was chosen to represent French luxury furniture at the Milan Triennale. In the early 1960s, Dumond provided interior and furniture designs for the tourist class lounge of the SS France, a national symbol of luxury and French modernity.
