Meubles Et Décors Des Années 40

Inaugurated by the Exposition des Arts et Techniques in 1937 in Paris, the 1940s marked a period of transition. The quarrel between the ancients and the moderns was outdated, art and function had to be combined, and before investing in post-war reconstruction, the decorative designers entered the field of creation.

After the cubist and art deco periods, the 1930s and their commitment to modernism, the 1940s offered an inventive return to decoration marked by neo-classical styles, the Louis XVI style, a return to the rustic, the rocaille style. This period reflected all the contradictions of a society in a state of shock which did not know whether the future lay in the past or in the future. Great names mark a high tradition of cabinet making. In France: Adnet, Arbus, Dominique, Kohlmann, Jallot, Leleu, produced sumptuous, richly made sets. American designers continued their work across the Atlantic: T.H. Robsjorn-Gibbing, George Nelson and many others.

In this book devoted to the 1940s, an abundant iconography composed of archival images and contemporary colour photographs sheds new light on this transitional period, both in Europe and the United States.