Low table, circa 1930

Originally from Marseille, Paul Dupré-Lafon trained as an architect but worked primarily as an interior designer. After moving to Paris in 1923, it took him only five years to establish himself as a coveted decorator, and by the late 1920s he was creating entire interiors for wealthy clientèle including the bankers Dreyfus and Rothschild. He has been described as a ‘décorateur des millionaires’ (a designer for the millionaires) (T. Couvrat-Desvergnes, Paul Dupré-Lafon, Décorateur des Millionnaires, Paris, 1990) and for forty years worked as such. He was a reserved man who preferred not to show his designs in exhibitions, and instead concentrated his time and energy on private projects.

His furniture combines the functionality of modernist design with the luxury of Art Deco, avoiding both a dehumanized version of the former and an over-exuberant expression of the latter. The impressive forms within his oeuvre communicate a sense of power and grandeur through their simplicity, while subtle curves and sharp angles elevate his constructions. It was critical to Dupré-Lafon that his furniture appeared as works of art while simultaneously remaining clear in form and demonstrative of various aspects of utility from different viewpoints.

With a rare stone top, metal details and subtle use of parchment, the present lot and most impressive table epitomizes Dupré-Lafon’s aesthetic, uniting function with rare materials, modern shape, and strong spatial presence. It reflects the decorator’s favored palette of muted colors and his predilection for the interplay of contrasts, in both the tactile and the visual characteristics of materials.