Jean-Michel Frank
by Assouline
Despite never having attended a school of architecture or design, self-made interior designer Jean-Michel Frank developed a unique personal style that became a benchm’ark of European Art Deco sophistication throughout the 1920s and 30s. Favoring neutral tones and opulent materials such as gold, quartz, marble, shagreen, fine wood veneers and delicate straw marquetry, Frank’s simplistic forms and lush interiors garnered the attention of the era’s most respected artists and patrons.
From notable collaborations with Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, French painter Christian Bérard, Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, and fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, to a collection of minimalist home furnishing designed for Hermès in 1924 – which are still reproduced by the luxury brand today – and impressive interiors for the likes of Nelson Rockefeller, Charles Templeton Crocker and Marcel Rochas, Frank’s work illuminated the decorative arts throughout the early 20th century.
Recognized as a primary influence on leading contemporary architects and designers, Frank’s work remains highly sought after by international collectors and resides in the most prominent museums around the world. Despite a career cut short due to his untimely death by suicide at the age of 46, Jean-Michel Frank’s influence on the progression of modernism was no less palpable, as beautifully demonstrated by Assouline’s just-released monograph honoring the late designer. A must have coffee table book that is as elegant an object as the designs pictured within its sprawling pages.