LOUIS SOGNOT (1892-1970) & CHARLOTTE ALIX (1897-1987) - - Lot 59

LOUIS SOGNOT (1892-1970) & CHARLOTTE ALIX (1897-1987) - UAM MEMBERS Model specially designed and produced in 1929/30 for the UCLAF boardroom and presented at the first Salon de l'Union des Artistes Modernes, Paris, 1930 Rare pair of modernist armchairs. The primary structures are made of welded metal angles, lacquered in black. Each side is hollowed out into an inverted U-shape, with the returns at the base forming glides, formed by an aluminum blade and closed at the floor by a strip also in aluminum, thus describing a rectangle; all attached to the structure by means of visible screws. The vertical backrests feature curved sides with rounded top corners. Circa 1929/30. Backrests and cushions, upholstered and covered with fabric, not original, used condition, scattered scratches, slight and rare deformations. Height 81cm - Width 61cm - Depth 55cm Provenance: Private collection, Paris: Private collection, Paris. Exhibition: 1ère exposition de l'Union des Artistes Modernes - Pavillon de Marsan, Musée du Louvre, Paris, June 11 to July 14, 1930. Our chairs presented at this show. Bibliography: - René Chavance - Les Echos des Industries d'Art, July 1930 - À l'Union des Artistes Modernes - Éditions Les Echos, Paris. Our chairs reproduced on page 22. - Georges Rémon - Mobilier et Décoration, July 1930 - La 1ère exposition de l'Union des Artistes Modernes - Éditions Edmond Honoré, Paris. Our chairs reproduced on page 7. -Léon Werth - Art et Décoration, August 1930 - Le premier Salon de l'Union des Artistes Modernes - Éditions Albert Lévy, Paris. Our chairs are reproduced on pages 60 and 61. - Gaston Varenne - L'Amour de l'art, September 1930 - L'Union des Artistes Modernes - Éditions Imprimeries Paul Dupont, Paris. Our seats reproduced on page 371. - René Chavance - Les Echos des Industries d'Art, July 1930 - À l'Union des Artistes Modernes - Éditions Les Echos, Paris. Our chairs reproduced on page 22. - Georges Rémon - Mobilier et Décoration, April 1931 - Louis Sognot et Charlotte Alix décorateurs - Éditions Edmond Honoré, Paris. Our chairs reproduced on page 132. - Arlette Barré-Despond - UAM, Union des Artistes Modernes - Les Éditions du Regard, Paris, 1986. Our chairs featured in an archive photograph reproduced on page 507. - Pierre Kjellberg - Art déco - Les Maîtres du mobilier - Le décor des paquebots - Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 1986. Our seats featured in an archive photograph reproduced on page 175. Historical background: In 1928, Dr. Gaston Roussel founded UCLAF, the Union Chimique des Laboratoires Associés Français, in collaboration with chemists, pharmacists and biologists. It was then decided to erect a brand new building, to be named Pasteur, in Romainville, the town that had always been home to Dr. Roussel's professional activities. The building was designed to house the company's research center, administrative offices and boardroom. Workshops, warehouses, garages, a refectory, a boiler room and a water tower were built on the outskirts of the building, on a 7-hectare site. At the time, the company already had 2,000 employees. The Pasteur building, UCLAF's showcase, was inaugurated in 1930. Charlotte Alix, after working for Baron de Rothschild between 1925 and 1927, founded the Bureau International des Arts Français with Louis Sognot in 1928. The choice of name for the agency, located on rue de l'Abbé Grégoire in the 6th arrondissement, already says a great deal about the program and philosophy behind the association of the two "decorators". Charlotte Alix had long enjoyed a friendly relationship with Dr. Roussel, who had always encouraged her in her chosen path of modern decoration and furniture design. So it was only natural that UCLAF's founder chose Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix to furnish the library and boardroom of the brand-new Pasteur building. The two decorators created a modular boardroom, with a large table made up of independent elements that could be separated to form work islands. The aesthetic identity of this large room came essentially from the armchairs made of aluminum slats fixed by visible screws to black lacquered iron primary structures. Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix immediately understood the importance of this design and exhibited it at the 1st Salon de l'Union des Artistes Modernes held at the Pavillon de Marsan in 1930. Together with the Maharaja of Indore's commission, these are the two most historic sets in the world.