éric Bagge (1890-1978), Brown - Design Project No. 183 Bis, Circa 1928

Éric BAGGE (1890-1978)
Brown - pattern project no. 183 bis, circa 1928
Gouache on cardboard
Signed and numbered “183 bis” lower right on the mount
27 × 19 cm

Architect and interior designer, Éric Bagge was born in the Paris region in 1890 to a French mother and a Swedish father. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, he exhibited his first architecturally shaped furniture at the Salon d’Automne in 1919. He participated in the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs from 1920 to 1929 as well as the International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Arts in 1925. Some of his creations were published by La Maîtrise, Ateliers des Arts Appliqués des Galeries Lafayette, directed by Maurice Dufrêne. In 1934, he was entrusted with the project of rebuilding the Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur church in Montrouge, for which he chose reinforced concrete. Particularly known for his wall hangings, Éric Bagge also designed furniture, wallpapers, upholstery fabrics, carpets, tapestries, jewelry, and objets d'art. His fabric collections, emblematic of the taste that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, were in precise harmony with the aesthetic requirements of modern decor: floral representations and other stylized motifs were henceforth banned in favor of a sober and linear geometry. This new ornamental grammar, which excluded all figurative motifs, was composed of combinations of abstract shapes such as the triangle, the circle, and the diamond. The arrangement of these lines in sought-after color ranges produces maximum visual intensity. In 1928, the artist signed an exclusive contract with the upholstery, carpet and tapestry manufacturer Lucien Bouix (distributor of Rodier fabrics). He designed unique collections for them with a resolutely modern decor and in a palette of subtle harmonies. From his designs, the Bouix house, always in search of innovation, produced true technical feats in silk and velvet. The gouaches we offer are fabric projects with abstract patterns of great modernity. These were widely reproduced in decorative arts magazines from 1928-1932.