Rob Mallet-Stevens. Itineraries: Paris-Brussels-Hyères.
AAM editions| N° d'inventaire | 21289 |
| Format | 21 x 19 |
| Détails | 228 p., numerous illustrations, paperback. |
| Publication | Brussels, 2016 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782871433149 |
Before reaching the maturity of his art, Rob Mallet-Stevens, a celebrated figure of architectural elegance, took a few side roads. Born into a Belgian family of artists and writers – the Stevens – upon graduating from architecture school in 1906, he revealed himself to be a prolific and cosmopolitan writer, passionate, among other things, about Japan and the theater. In Brussels, his time at the palace-house of his aunt Suzanne Stevens-Stoclet converted him to the severe graphic art of the Vienna Secession. The Austrian architect, Josef Hoffmann, became his mentor. His participation in the Parisian magazine Comoedia illustré introduced him to the world of fashion. He designed projects for illustrious couturiers: Jeanne Paquin, Jacques Doucet, Paul Poiret, Melnotte-Simonin. From 1920, he became involved in cinema and designed around twenty modernist sets based on new principles. He created the exteriors for L'Inhumaine, a film promoting French modern art, directed by Marcel L'Herbier and produced by Georgette Leblanc, Maeterlinck's muse, who was not put off by any audacity. Mallet-Stevens would take advantage of this fictional architecture to promote the architecture he would later build in reality. In 1923, Mallet-Stevens, who still had only sets, shops, exhibition pavilions, and interior designs to his credit, was commissioned by Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles to design the plans for their villa in Hyères. The correspondence between the Viscount and the architect is published here in its entirety for the first time. It shows how the dialogue that was established between the two men contributed to the development of the Mallet-Stevens style: architecture but also furniture, sculpture, painting, stained glass, etc., an approach that responds to the desire for total art dear to Hoffmann. In five itineraries, this book evokes, through unpublished and rare documents, the journey of the young architect curious about the world who, from Paris to Brussels and Hyères, led him to the mastery of a style and the steps of fame.
Before reaching the maturity of his art, Rob Mallet-Stevens, a celebrated figure of architectural elegance, took a few side roads. Born into a Belgian family of artists and writers – the Stevens – upon graduating from architecture school in 1906, he revealed himself to be a prolific and cosmopolitan writer, passionate, among other things, about Japan and the theater. In Brussels, his time at the palace-house of his aunt Suzanne Stevens-Stoclet converted him to the severe graphic art of the Vienna Secession. The Austrian architect, Josef Hoffmann, became his mentor. His participation in the Parisian magazine Comoedia illustré introduced him to the world of fashion. He designed projects for illustrious couturiers: Jeanne Paquin, Jacques Doucet, Paul Poiret, Melnotte-Simonin. From 1920, he became involved in cinema and designed around twenty modernist sets based on new principles. He created the exteriors for L'Inhumaine, a film promoting French modern art, directed by Marcel L'Herbier and produced by Georgette Leblanc, Maeterlinck's muse, who was not put off by any audacity. Mallet-Stevens would take advantage of this fictional architecture to promote the architecture he would later build in reality. In 1923, Mallet-Stevens, who still had only sets, shops, exhibition pavilions, and interior designs to his credit, was commissioned by Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles to design the plans for their villa in Hyères. The correspondence between the Viscount and the architect is published here in its entirety for the first time. It shows how the dialogue that was established between the two men contributed to the development of the Mallet-Stevens style: architecture but also furniture, sculpture, painting, stained glass, etc., an approach that responds to the desire for total art dear to Hoffmann. In five itineraries, this book evokes, through unpublished and rare documents, the journey of the young architect curious about the world who, from Paris to Brussels and Hyères, led him to the mastery of a style and the steps of fame.