Wright Auction

Chareau's stripped–down forms also contrast sharply with the luxurious cabinetry of such contemporaries as Emile-Jacques Ruhlman, Louis Groult and Jean-Jacques Adnet. It was they who set the tone for the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels—a showcase of French artistry that enshrined Art Deco as the reigning style of the next decade. The title of the exposition is misleading: industry was edged out by decoration and Le Corbusier's audacious Pavilion de l'Esprit Nouveau was screened off to conceal it from public view. The leading artistes-décorateurs wanted to turn the clock back to the era when French taste reigned supreme, whereas the Bauhaus was international and forward looking.

Chareau had a foot in both camps, designing luxurious armchairs and sofas, often upholstered with tapestries by his friend Jean Lurçat, alongside his daring excursions into a dynamic minimalism. The former are period pieces; the latter are timeless treasures. The Chareau vision and design universe permeates the present lot; just as Maison de Verre can be thought of as scaled-up cabinetry, the desk can be seen as scaled-down architecture. The parchment-covered and blackened steel stool is a light companion to the dense atmosphere and aura of the desk form. Together the desk and stool are dynamic—capable of commanding a room—catching the eye and inspiring the mind. The custom black lacquer is unusual as most of the cantilever desks Chareau experimented in the 1920s were finished in natural palisander or mahogany. The solidity and minimalism of the desk and its footprint combined with the flexibility of the design with a swinging drawer and writing surface able to be stored away, make it a fascinating example of functionalism infused with luxe. This dualistic philosophy above all is the trademark style and supreme contribution of France to the development of high modernism.