Lot 87: ETIENNE COURNAULT (1891-1948)

ETIENNE COURNAULT (1891-1948) A Pair of Verre Églomisé Panels, circa 1931 reverse painted on colorless glass, mounted in black painted wood and metal frame and mount each panel 30¼ x 11¼ in. (76.8 x 28.5 cm.)

London, Victoria & Albert Museum, Art Deco 1910-1939, 27 March - 20 July 2003; Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, September 2003 - January 2004; San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, March - July 2004; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, August 2004 - January 2005.

Metz, Musées de la Cour d'Or, Etienne Cournault 1891-1948, June - October 1994.

Jacques Doucet, Paris.
With L'Arc en Seine, Paris.

Jacques Doucet, one of the foremost Paris couturiers of the late 19th and early 20th century, was also one of the most distinguished art collectors of his era. He sold off his spectacular collections of 18th century French paintings and furniture to concentrate on modern and contemporary furnishings and works of art. He bought a villa at Neuilly to showcase his paintings - including works by Modigliani, Douanier Rousseau, Braque, Van Gogh, and Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' - in a setting devised by Pierre Legrain and furnished with individually commissioned pieces by Eileen Gray, Marcel Coard, Rose Adler, Pierre Legrain and other pre-eminent avant-garde creators, among them Etienne Cournault. Rich and exotic materials fulfilled Doucet's desire to create a truly sumptuous suite of rooms. These panels were most likely incorporated in a door or doors. Their silvery motifs under glass, like abstracted marine creatures swimming under water featured in what is widely regarded as the most refined and exceptional art collection of the 1920s.