Every week, this young dealer, passionate about history, presents much more than furniture with functional forms, but real archives evoking this post-war period so rich in innovations. Discover the origin of this timeless design born from the reflections of the architects of the Reconstruction.
What is your background?
I was introduced to the Puces by my father who was a dealer specializing in Belle Époque furniture. As a very young collector, I was attached to everything that had an attraction to the 50s and 60s. I must have been barely 10 years old when I started a collection of chairs! After a classic university course in art history which destined me for a career as a professor of visual arts, I joined a furniture gallery. With this experience which showed me a new path, I settled in Paul Bert Serpette, the place to be! I settled here 6 years ago, at a time of great renewal, when each new dealer arrived with a solid academic background, a first experience as an intern or gallery assistant and a strong appetite for this work, with a fairly fixed idea of what we wanted to defend. A crazy emulation!
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Tell us about your specialty
I am a specialist in post-war French design, which can be situated between 1950 and 1965. It was during this period that the furniture industry as it is conceived today took shape. The designer drew, the publisher produced and the distributor distributed. All these designers, such as Pierre Paulin, Pierre Guariche or Joseph-André Motte were born between 1925 and 1930 and graduated from the École des Arts Décoratifs or the École Camondo, between 1947 and 1950. Initially interns at prestigious design houses that designed innovative and rational furniture, they were quickly put to work in this post-war France, where the industry was pushed by the Ministry of Reconstruction. The design of this period drew its essence from this urgency. They were asked to design the furniture that would enhance the habitat of the future. They were expected for their fresh and young vision. If today design appears as something a little elitist, in 1950 this is not the case, furniture is a necessity and designers are literally at the service of the population
Why does this particularly affect you?
The design of this period speaks of our history The added value of these pieces lies in the fact that we are not just selling a chair, but a part of our history that can be owned This history evokes the flourishing industry of a France that had known hell and wanted to live fully, in total happiness It was a period when everything was possible, when designers enjoyed the absolute confidence of manufacturers and when people bought this furniture with the guarantee of longevity worthy of a Norman wardrobe! It was a time when the "low-end" did not yet exist
Today, beyond a fashion effect, these pieces of furniture constitute something timeless. I am convinced that in 20 years, a pair of armchairs from the 50s will go perfectly with a chest of drawers from 2030. We are still not out of this modernity at the moment, nothing new has been invented. It is interesting to go to the origins of our society, because ultimately that is what we are talking about with this furniture. It is about humanity.. He is a rationalist, very anchored in modernity, who started from the principle that it was necessary to stop reproducing the decorative elements of furniture from the 1940s and the overloads considered elegant. Pierre Guariche seeks the quintessence of the piece by ensuring that the form serves the function. He was an incredible designer and draftsman, his archives are filled with drawings of a thousand pieces that have not been published.
Can you show us a piece from your stand?
I really like this pair of Memphis armchairs from 1964 published by Meurop It is an armchair that was also called a "television seat", comfortable, welcoming, it prefigures the low-to-the-ground seats found at the dawn of the 70s The curve found on the seat is that of the backrest, but in negative All its lines respond to each other, it is a jewel of curves, biases, and roundness Pierre Guariche has undoubtedly signed here one of his most beautiful models!
What does Paul Bert Serpette represent for you?
For me, Paul Bert Serpette is above all a story of passion, of journey, of humanity! This market represents the requirement and a transmission of the antique dealer's profession which has always been ultra serious within its walls. They are rigorous merchants, offering a demanding service and a qualitative welcome. Paul Bert Serpette is a driving force in the defense of design. The antique dealer's profession is old and the merchants manage to reinvent it to perfection by offering customers new things every day. Paul Bert Serpette is a journey through time!
Photo credit: Grégoire Hababou/Sloft Magazine
