sumptuousness of materials – is what made Ruhlmann’s work seem so fresh and exciting. There might be a touch of gilt or silver plating in strategic places. Though used sparingly, fittings, inlays, and other accents were made of precious materials: ivory, sharkskin, tortoiseshell. Ruhlmann loved using exotic woods, especially burled or birds-eye – often, the grains or texture of the wood provided the main embellishment of a piece. The decorative accents that do exist are restrained and stylized.Ĭounterbalancing this simplicity of design were opulent materials. Surfaces are flat, smooth and often hard – again, as opposed to the soft, highly carved fronts that predominated previously. In contrast to the sinuous, wavy lines of Art Nouveau, a style popular at the turn of the 20th century, his furniture is all sharp lines and planes, with a fondness for circular or oval shapes. He favored a simple, streamlined silhouette – one that seems remarkably clean, even to the contemporary eye. The designer saw himself as a descendant of the great furniture-makers of the later 1700s, and his work shows the influence of their styles: in its meticulous craftsmanship, in its use of inlays, reeding, and fluting, in its floral motifs and, most of all, in its graceful proportions and balance.Įven though traditional in many attributes, Ruhlmann’s work was innovative as well. Ruhlmann didn’t create new types of furniture, and many of his desks and dressing tables are modeled on 18th-century forms – even his iconic club chair has its roots in the traditional French bergère. (Actually coined in the 1960s, the term “art deco” derives from the title of this exhibition at the time, the new style was known simply as “moderne”, or modern.) But it was the year 1925 that sealed Ruhlmann’s status as the master of modern when his pieces became the hit of the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels – a furniture-oriented World’s Fair he helped organize, and Art Deco was popularized around the world. The company flourished, with its luxurious creations highly popular among the Parisian avant-garde. In 1919, he teamed up with a fellow designer, Pierre Laurent their firm, Les Etablissements Ruhlmann et Laurent, created wallpaper, textiles, housewares, and accessories as well as furnishings. Ruhlmann’s earliest pieces of furniture date from around 1910. Although he lacked formal training – and never personally made a piece – his ideas and designs became the cornerstone of the style commonly known today as Art Deco. Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879-1933) was a Parisian furniture and interior designer.
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