Robert Mallet-Stevens (March 24, 1886 – February 8, 1945) was an influential French architect and designer.

Early life

Mallet-Stevens was born in Paris in a house called Maison-Laffitte (designed by

François Mansart François Mansart (; 23 January 1598 – 23 September 1666) was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France. The '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century Fr ...

in the 17th century). His father and his grandfather were art collectors in Paris and Brussels. He received his formal training at the

École Spéciale d'Architecture The École spéciale d'architecture (ÉSA; formerly École centrale d'architecture) is a private school for architecture at 254, boulevard Raspail in Paris, France. The school was founded in 1865 by engineer Emile Trélat as reaction against the ...

in Paris, during which he wrote ''Guerande'' about relationships between the different forms of art.

Career

In 1924 Mallet-Stevens published a magazine called ''La Gazette Des 7 Arts'' and at the same time with the help of

Ricciotto Canudo Ricciotto Canudo (; 2 January 1877, Gioia del Colle – 10 November 1923, Paris) was an early Italian film theoretician who lived primarily in France. In 1913 he published a bimonthly avant-garde magazine entitled ''Montjoie!'', promoting Cubism ...

founded the ''Club des amis du 7ème art''. A Paris street in the

16th arrondissement The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de Tr ...

, Rue Mallet-Stevens, was built by him in the 1920s and has on it six houses designed by him. A portfolio of 32 of Mallet-Stevens' designs was published under the title ''Une Cité Moderne'' in 1922. In addition to designing shops, factories, a fire station in Paris, apartment buildings, private homes, and interiors, he was one of the first architects to show an interest in cinema. He designed film sets and his design for

Marcel L'Herbier Marcel L'Herbier (; 23 April 1888 – 26 November 1979) was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued unti ...

's silent film ''

L'Inhumaine ''L'Inhumaine'' ("the inhuman woman") is a 1924 French science fiction drama film directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It has the subtitle ''histoire féerique'' ("fairy story", "story of enchantment"). ''L'Inhumaine'' is notable for its experimental ...

'' (1924) is considered a masterpiece. In 1929, surrealist photographer and filmmaker

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...

made a film inspired by his design for the buildings named " Villa Noailles" entitled '' The Mysteries of the Château de Dé''. During his career he assembled a team of artisans and craftspeople who worked with him: interior designers, sculptors, master glaziers, lighting specialists, and ironsmiths. An example of his collaborative nature is provided by the

Union des Artistes Moderne The French Union of Modern Artists (french: Union des artistes modernes; UAM) was a movement made up of decorative artists and architects founded in France on 15 May 1929 and active until 1959. Initially made up of around 20 dissidents of the Soc ...

(UAM), formed in 1929 by a group of 25 dissidents of the Société des Artistes-Décorateurs (SAD), and presided over by Robert.

Legacy

Mallet-Stevens ordered that his archives be destroyed upon his death. His wishes were honored and his memory fell into obscurity. A French exhibit of his drawings, models, and actual works at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

in 2005 sparked public interest in his contributions.

Buildings and projects

* Villa Paul Poiret (1921–1923), in

Mézy-sur-Seine Mézy-sur-Seine (, literally ''Mézy on Seine'') is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yvelines department An intentional community is a voluntary residenti ...

completed in 1932 * Villa Noailles (1923–1928), in

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered arou ...

Villa Cavrois Villa Cavrois in Croix is a large modernist mansion built in 1932 by French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens for Paul Cavrois, an industrialist from Roubaix active in the textile industry. Context and genesis of the Project Paul Cavrois (1890- ...

(1929–1932), in Croix *Rue Mallet-Stevens (1927), Paris: **Villa Allatini, Rue Mallet-Stevens 5 **Villa de Daniel Dreyfuss, Rue Mallet-Stevens 7 **Villa Reifenberg, Rue Mallet-Stevens 8 **Villa des Frères Martel, Rue Mallet-Stevens 10 **Villa Mallet-Stevens, Rue Mallet-Stevens 12 *Garage Alfa Romeo, Rue Marbeuf, Paris *House of

Louis Barillet Louis Barillet (1880 – 1948) was a French artist, known for his work in stained glass. Among those with whom he collaborated were Théodore-Gérard Hanssen and Jacques Le Chevallier. His windows may be seen in the church of Notre-Dame-des-M ...

, Square Vergennes 15, Paris *Caserne des Pompiers (firestation, 1935), rue Mesnil 8, Paris *Immeuble de rapport de la rue Méchain (1928-1929), in Paris where

Tamara de Lempicka Tamara Łempicka (born Tamara Rosalia Gurwik-Górska; 16 May 1898 – 18 March 1980), better known as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art D ...

used to live until the World War II.

References

External links

Fondation des amis de Mallet Stevens
*
Studio International – Robert Mallet-Stevens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallet-Stevens, Robert 20th-century French architects Artists from Paris 1886 births 1945 deaths Burials at Passy Cemetery École Spéciale d'Architecture alumni Modernist architects from France Art Deco architects Robert Mallet-Stevens