Jacques Adnet
WHAT a lot of work TO ACHIEVE SIMPLICITY
“Adnet is among the first to expect metal and glass to incorporate with the structure and decoration of furniture, where they will complement the ample space and bare surfaces created by the reinforced concrete and by their sparkle — the effects of electricity” — Louis Cherronnet
A towering figure in twentieth-century avant-garde French design, Jacques Adnet (1900-1984) is remembered for the clean lines and simple forms of an unadorned Art Deco style. One of the earliest Modernists, Adnet had been espousing the simple beauty of combining wood, metal and glass in furniture design as early as 1925. Whilst drawing on classical and traditional precedents, Adnet eschewed excessive ornamentation, in a sense rejecting the trend towards luxurious materials — ivory, mother of pearl, gilt bronze and various inlays of rare woods — that typified much of the finer Art Deco furniture. He strove to create practical, useful pieces for everyday life, believing furniture should be functional and geometrically simple. With an oeuvre encompassing the entirety of the Art Deco period, gradually, through his intriguing use of unusual materials, Adnet transcended the genre that nurtured him and moved stylistically towards a restrained, sober modernism. Born in Châtillon-Coligny, near Bourgogne, Adnet began his education with his twin brother, Jean, at the Municipal School of Design in Auxerre. In 1916, Adnet made the move to the capital to study architecture at Paris’s École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. While there, he concentrated on architecture, honing his understanding of form under the venerable French architect Charles Louis Genuys (1852-1928).
Interior, Paris, by Jacques Adnet
Armchairs, saddle-stitched leather and brass (c. 1950) by Jacques Adnet, image c/o Maison Gerard
After graduating, Adnet became acquainted with cabinetmaking by working under French architect Tony Selmercheim (1871-1971). Afterward, he and his brother Jean both worked hand in hand for Studio La Maîtrise, the decorative arts arm of the famous Parisian department store Printemps, where they trained under the aegis of Art Déco designers Henri Rapin (1873-1939) and Maurice Dufrêne (1976-1955). From 1923 until 1928, the two were active in exhibiting their work under the collaborative moniker J.J. Adnet. During this period, Adnet’s work was largely inspired by the popular Art Deco style of the early era, which he used to update traditional furniture in new ways, placing an emphasis on materials like leather, metals, mirror, and woods. One of the very first ensembliers-décorateurs (set designer-decorator), Adnet recognized as an emerging talent early on at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925 (the famed exhibition from which the term Art Deco emerged), where the brothers exhibited work in the Ambassade Française, La Maîtrise, and also at their own stand.
Located on the Esplanade des Invalides, Jacques and Jean’s stand was decorated with a variety of tubular glass light fixtures, bordered with frosted tubes that had been arranged in zigzags and right angles. This effect brought the exhibition to life by highlighting the sparkle of the metal in their designs. Their success continued with a commission for Jacques to design the salle commune for the luxurious ocean liner Île-de-France in 1926. Jean remained at La Maîtrise, and eventually became a sales manager for Galeries Lafayette, while Jacques accepted the directorship of the Compagnie des Arts Français (“CAF”), the atelier which had been founded by Sue et Mare in 1919, but had, sadly, failed to prosper. The original purpose of CAF was to promote “Evolution dans la Tradition” — using traditional furniture forms, but in a modern way. It was there that Adnet’s style began to shift towards the work for which he is most widely recognized, rejecting the past and using CAF as a showcase for his avant-garde designs. He continued to use luxurious materials and to reinvent traditional forms, but he began to explore his modernist sensibilities, focusing on clean, unencumbered forms with a rigidly functional aesthetic which could fit any purpose or environment. While his decorative element was smoked glass, Adnet incorporated precious woods, such as peroba and bubenga, chromed metals and embellishments such as mirror, leather, galuchat and parchment in linear styles with decoration pared away wherever possible.
Coffee Table, wrought iron, glazed lava stone (c. 1958) by Jacques Adnet, image c/o Maison Gerard
As a true member of the avant-garde in his time, Adnet was an innovative thinker and original in his choice of form and materials. He revolutionized the industry through being among one of the first to combine metal and glass as part of the construction and decoration of his furniture. He believed these materials worked well with electricity, which at the beginning of the twentieth century was still a relatively new innovation (his designs for lighting, including his Quadro VII Lamp (1929), which went into production in Italy only in the late 20th century, are among some of his most important works).
During his time at CAF, Adnet would forge relationships with a team of collaborators who shared his cutting-edge approach to design, including artists (Raoul Dufy, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall, Alexandre Noll), ceramists (Jean Besnard, Jacques Lenoble, Georges Jouve), coppersmiths (Claudius Linossier), goldsmiths, tapestry makers and decorators (Francis Jourdain, Charlotte Perriand, René Gabriel, Serge Mouille). Over time, his work took on increasingly modernist characteristics, including the use of tubular steel, lightweight forms, and minimal ornamentation — even as he continued to embrace traditional materials like leather, rosewood, and brass. Adnet’s workshop, at the corner of rue Matignon and the Faubourg Saint Honoré, became a creative melting pot, which contributed to the exceptional vitality of 1950s French Decorative Arts.
While leading CAF, throughout the 1930s and ‘40s, Adnet continued to have considerable personal success. He was exhibiting various interiors, marketed by the cabinet maker Saddier et ses Fils, at both the Salon D'Automne and Les Expositions des Arts Decoratifs. In 1937, he collaborated with French architect René Coulon on the Glass Pavilion Saint Gobain at the Exposition International des Arts Techniques, for which he was awarded the grand prix of architecture and furniture ensemble. Blaise Cendars wrote that “the seven wonders of the modern world are spark ignition engines, rolling bearing, a great tailor’s cut, Satie’s music, money, the shaved neck of a woman with her hair shingled and, obviously, the work of furniture set designer Jacques Adnet” (Cendars, Profond aujourd’hui).
Interior, Paris (1930) by Jacques Adnet
After the Second World War, Adnet was invited to preside over the highly renowned Salon des Artistes Decorateurs in 1947 and again in 1948. His machinisme style had by this time become popular among decorators, and his distinguished reputation brought about numerous and prestigious commissions including a mansion for the Riviera casino owner Frank Jay Gould, a studio for the French President at the chateau de Rambouillet, the private apartments of President Vincent Auriol at the at the Palais de l’Élysée, the meeting room at UNESCO’s international headquarters in Paris and many luxury ocean liners including the Ferdinand de Lesseps (1952) and Unesco (1958).
During the 1950s, Adnet formed a partnership with the French fashion house Hermès, creating a range of now iconic leather-covered furniture — including glass-topped tables, which were another revolutionary leap. One of his most iconic designs is the Circulaire Mirror (1950) a single circular pane hung from a leather strap. Summing up his streamlined, elegant design aesthetic, Adnet remarked: “What a lot of work to achieve simplicity”. When CAF closed down in 1959, Adnet moved on to become director of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (the successor institution to his alma mater).
An icon of luxurious French Modernism and one of the most revered architects and interior designers of the twentieth century, Adnet is in part responsible for the profound change in aesthetic values, and for the move away from highly stylized Art Deco, to the more subdued, pared back style of modernist French design. Through his striking use of materials such as exotic wood, smoked glass, parchment, metal, and of course, leather, his pieces stand out in today’s market, just as they did during his lifetime. As Louis Cherronnet states in his monograph “Jacques Adnet”, published in Art and Industrie: “Adnet is among the first to expect metal and glass to incorporate with the structure and decoration of furniture, where they will complement the ample space and bare surfaces created by the reinforced concrete and by their sparkle — the effects of electricity.”