Jacques-Emile RUHLMANN
1879 - 1933
Some have seen in the Art Deco style a response to the Art Nouveau style often considered too exuberant and detrimental to good taste.
It can just as much be considered as its extension, with an ever present ornamental research accompanied by a more formal rigor.
Jacques-Emile Ruhlmannshould be classified in the category of traditionalists. He himself claims a heritage from the end of the French 18th century.
He was nicknamed in his time the "Reisenerdecorative art" in reference to Marie-Antoinette's favorite cabinetmaker and master in the creation of Louis XVI furniture.
Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann was self-taught and began his career at the Salon d'Automne in 1913.
His international notoriety comes after the success of his "Collector's Hotel" built by Pierre Patout for the 1925 Exhibition. Until then he was known to the general public and his creations were orders on behalf of wealthy privileged clients.
These furniture creations are essentially made from rare materials and precious essences: Macassar ebony, rosewood, ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell.
He is also an interior designer and also signed collections of wall hangings and carpets for interiors.
He also designed sets for the Élysée Palace and various buildings of the Republic, for the colonial exhibition of 1931 and the liner Île-de-France.
Although most of his furniture designs predate 1920, he is nevertheless recognized as one of the emblematic representatives of the 1925 style, a style that will be renamed in the 1960s: Art Deco.
