René Gabriel's day bed
This week, Jérémy Pradier Jeauneau highlights a day bed by René Gabriel, dating from 1946, plunging us into the heart of French Reconstruction. A fervent defender of furniture from this particularly rich and fundamental period, he highlights this iconic piece, a pure incarnation of modernity.
During the Second World War, a large part of France was destroyed and at the end of this conflict, the challenge of reconstruction was high. A dedicated ministry was therefore created in October 1944. In the field of architecture, towns such as Le Havre or Royan which had been completely destroyed were to be characteristic of this period. Regarding furniture, mass-produced furniture, criticized during the interwar years, proved to be the most rational and immediate solution to overcome the emergency.
René Gabriel is the French designer who goes very early on, pushing his research to imagine well-designed furniture intended for the greatest number of people. With the Popular Front, a middle class will emerge eager to furnish itself with quality materials, at attractive prices. Gabriel will then begin to think about the notion of "modern rustic" materializing by the development of functional and economical furniture. His ideas were almost too avant-garde ... In the 1930s, the working classes had no desire to be assigned a type of furniture, much preferring complicated furniture with a bourgeois appearance, with gilding, lacquers and scrolls!
In Reconstruction, René Gabriel's work will find meaning and finally embody modernity. During this period, he will fully blossom and invent modern design. Contemporary of Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé, René Gabriel is undoubtedly the most artisan of “social modernity”.
This day bed is a perfect example. Initially, it is a child's bed, a variation of the 155 model. It represents the quintessence of this period, very modern in its relationship to wood and simplicity. He questions the relationship to chic and shows that it can be found in pure and simple lines. The work on the base is particularly interesting. Beyond technical innovations, we feel that René Gabriel is a real designer. The use of local wood, here oak for its great resistance, refers to old cabinetmaking work, of incredible simplicity and elegance.
It is a very beautiful piece of design which finds its place perfectly in front of a beautiful library, in a living room, in a current decoration.
