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Masterpieces of Art Deco: The Marsha Miro Collection Philippe Garner Marsha Miro was first drawn to Art Deco in the early 1980s. She stepped into this field at a fortuitous moment. Great pieces were coming to market, very often for the first time from the estates or from the heirs of the clients for whom they were originally made. Auctions in New York and in Europe, notably in Monte Carlo, brought forth masterful examples of the creativity of the great designers of this golden era. I remember meeting Marsha and being struck by the glint in her eye – the glint of deep and lively curiosity and of real, visceral delight in this subject. She selected well, bringing together pieces both of impressive and of more modest scale – from the sumptuous cabinet by Paul Iribe to the elegantly understated correspondence box by Rose Adler. The goal was to find exemplary works that each made a strong statement about creativity – furniture and objects with the stature of works of art and capable of holding their own in dialogue with the 20th century paintings and sculpture with which they would share a home. Success can be measured in the exceptional character of the pieces that constitute the collection, fine examples, deserving of the epithet ‘masterpieces’, of the inspiration of a notable roster of artists that includes Edgar Brandt, Ernest Boiceau, Pierre Chareau, Jean Dunand, Pierre Legrain, Eugène Printz, and Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Marsha brought to collecting the informed intelligence and the rigor that marked her approach to life and underpinned her other roles, as Art Critic for the Detroit Free Press (1974-1995), as Architectural Historian at Cranbrook (1995-2005), the educational community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, that is a National Historic Landmark, and as Founding Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (2006-2010), where she is currently Board President.

PIERRE CHAREAU (1883-1950)

A PAIR OF BERGERES, CIRCA 1920

Details

PIERRE CHAREAU (1883-1950)
A PAIR OF BERGERES, CIRCA 1920
mahogany, upholstered with recovered period fabric by Hélène Henry (1891-1965)
each 27 1/8 in. (68.9 cm.) high
branded with artist's cipher and partial paper label

Provenance

Jean-Jacques Dutko, Paris.

Literature

Special Notice

On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial interest in the outcome of the sale of certain lots consigned for sale. This will usually be where it has guaranteed to the Seller that whatever the outcome of the auction, the Seller will receive a minimum sale price for the work. This is known as a minimum price guarantee. This is such a lot.

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Lot Essay

cf. L'Amour de l'Art, n. 3, Librairie de France, Paris, 1923, p. 487 for an in situ view of chairs of this model in a period interior;
Les Arts de la Maison, fall and winter 1924, éditions Albert Morancé, Paris, 1924, p. 19 for a study drawing of the model, and pl. II for a a drawing of an office interior showing chairs of this model;
E. Tisserand, Du studio au Salon dans L'Art Vivant, Paris, 15 April 1926, n. 32, p. 304 for chairs of a similar model in Hélène Bernheim’s salon, called 'Salon de Coromandel';
Intérieurs et Ameublements Modernes, éditions Eugène Moreau, Paris, 1927, pl. 22 for chairs of this model in the office of Monsieur Dalsace, Paris;
D. Deshoulières, H. Jeanneau, M. Culot and B. Buyssens, Rob. Mallet-Stevens, Architecte, Paris, ud., pp. 223 - 224 for a chair of this model in a scene of the film 'Le Vertige' by Marcel L'Herbier;
M. Vellay, K. Frampton, Pierre Chareau Architecte-Meublier, Paris, 1984, p. 92, pp. 104-105 for chairs of a similar model in Hélène Bernheim’s salon, called 'Salon de Coromandel', p. 131, p. 312;
Pierre Chareau : architecte, un art intérieur, exhibition catalogue, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1993, p. 203 for a chair of this model in the bedroom of M. Fahri, Paris.

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