Louis Süe was a man of many artistic talents who excelled in a range of disciplines in the Parisian design scene of the early 20th century. He was a painter, furniture maker, decorator and architect — he drew on traditional design but sought to make modernist work. His best known furniture designs included wall mirrors, console tables and armchairs created in the elegant Art Deco style, and his interior designs spanned private residences and passenger liners.
Süe was born in Bordeaux and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1893. In 1902, his work was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants, and he continued exhibiting at Parisian salons over the course of his career. Beginning in 1903, Süe collaborated with other artists to create workshops and cooperative businesses in the city.
One of the most significant partnerships of Süe's career was with French artist and textile designer André Mare, with whom Süe became acquainted while working at an interior design firm called L’Atelier Français. In 1919–20, the pair, known as Süe et Mare, founded the Compagnie des Arts Français, which specialized in furniture, tapestries, wallpaper and silverware. The founders intended to draw on 18th-century furniture to create modern works and were inspired by Cubism and Art Nouveau and created forward-looking Art Deco designs that are widely celebrated today.
Inspired by the work of Austrian collective Wiener Werkstätte, Süe and Mare grew a successful business at the Compagnie des Arts Français, mass-producing furnishings and objects, taking on a range of wealthy clients and employing artists such as Marie Laurencin, Paul Vera and Fernand Léger. One of their interior design projects was the Polish Embassy in Paris. In 1925, Süe and Mare designed the Fontaine & Cie Pavilion at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, which featured works by André Groult, Maurice Dufrêne and others.
The Compagnie des Arts Français struggled financially toward the end of the 1920s and was sold to the owners of the French department store Galeries Lafayette. Jacques Adnet, who was working with Dufrêne at the decorative arts atelier of Galeries Lafayette, was appointed artistic director of the Compagnie and steered the firm in a different direction.
After Süe left the Compagnie, he worked as an independent architect and designer. Some of his notable projects include the Basque villa of French fashion designer Jean Patou, completed in 1931, and the reconstruction of Hôtel Hesselin in Paris, completed in 1937.
Süe became the treasurer of the Société des artistes décorateurs in 1936 and was named the society president in 1939. That was also the year he designed the French Village for the New York World's Fair. During World War II, he lived in Istanbul and lectured at the Institute of Fine Arts. He returned to France after the war and passed away in Paris in 1968.
In 2021, around 30 pieces of furniture by Süe et Mare from the estate of German-born fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld went to auction at Sotheby's. Many of Süe's designs are held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On 1stDibs, find antique Louis Süe tables, seating, mirrors and more.
Vitrine exceptionnelle par Léon Jallot – 1910
By Léon Jallot
Located in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FR
Vitrine exceptionnelle par Léon Jallot – 1910 Magnifique vitrine en bois de hêtre signée Léon Jallot, datant de 1910. Modèle "Fleurs et feuilles de cerisier stylisées", présenté au ...
Wood
Cabinet, Buffet of Maurice Dufrêne
By Maurice Dufrêne
Located in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FR
Maurice Dufrêne (1876-1955) Important 3-door cabinet in pommelé mahogany with wood marquetry and mother-of-pearl decoration French designer, Circa 1925, H: 181 cm D: 50 cm W: 174 cm ...
Wood
Rare sculptural cabinet Henry Ernest Anaclet Parayre (1879–1970)
By Henry Parayre
Located in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FR
Henry Ernest Anaclet Parayre (1879–1970) Rare sculptural cabinet with an mechanism, carved and inlaid in walnut. Woman with a chignon and a house in the forest surrounded by two pe...
Walnut
Dining Table in the style of Alfred Porteneuve
By Alfred Porteneuve
Located in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FR
In the style of Alfred Porteneuve (1896–1949) a Rare round dining table, Veneered and lacquered Walnut wood, extension mechanism Dimentions : Diameter: 135 cm (without extension) 200...
Walnut
Sylva Bernt - Paire Exceptionnelle d'Appliques en Bronze Patiné (circa 1950)
Located in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FR
Sylva Bernt - Paire Exceptionnelle d'Appliques en Bronze Patiné (circa 1950) Type : Paire d’appliques en bronze patiné Date de création : Vers 1950 Dimensions : H : 39 cm L : 36 cm Décor : Colombes en vol Marque du fondeur : "Bisceglia" Cette paire exceptionnelle d’appliques en bronze patiné, réalisée vers 1950, est décorée de colombes en vol, motif cher à Sylva Bernt, une artiste reconnue pour son inspiration antique et son travail sur les formes épurées et symboliques. Biographie de Sylva Bernt (1910-1995) Sylva Bernt est une sculptrice et designer italienne, née en 1910 à Gorizia, près de Trieste, et décédée en 1995. Artiste rare et reconnue, elle se distingue par ses créations et commandes publiques en Italie et en France, où elle s’installe vers 1950. En 1952, après avoir rencontré André Arbus chez le peintre Guido Cadorin à Venise, elle reçoit ses premières commandes françaises. À l’invitation du décorateur, elle participe à la construction du paquebot Bretagne, créant un grand autel en pierre pour la chapelle du navire. Cette collaboration marque le début d’une relation artistique étroite avec Arbus. Installée Avenue du Maine à Paris, elle devient praticienne d’Arbus, réalisant des éléments décoratifs intégrés à son mobilier. Ensemble, ils répondent à des commandes prestigieuses, tant publiques que privées : Décoration des paquebots transatlantiques Vietnam (1952) et Pasteur (1961) Décoration de la villa de Jean-Marie Terrin à Aix-en-Provence (1955), où elle réalise des panneaux monumentaux en pierre de Chassagne rose, inspirés de la mythologie antique, dans un style néo-assyrien. Son inspiration antique lui permet de livrer certaines des plus belles interprétations modernes des mythes gréco-romains. Sa parfaite connaissance de la statuaire antique se traduit dans des créations en marbre, calcaire, plomb, plâtre, terre et bronze. Parmi ses œuvres notables, on retrouve Le Centaure (1961), une étude en encre démontrant fluidité et spontanéité du trait. En 1955, elle conçoit une longue frise historique sur l’épopée viking, destinée au Grand Salon du Palais des Consuls de la Chambre de Commerce de Rouen. ------------ Sylva Bernt - Exceptional Pair of Patinated Bronze Sconces (circa 1950) Type: Pair of patinated bronze sconces Creation Date: Circa 1950 Dimensions: H: 39 cm W: 36 cm Decoration: Flying doves Founder’s Stamp: "Bisceglia" This exceptional pair of patinated bronze sconces, created around 1950, features flying doves, a motif emblematic of Sylva Bernt, an artist known for her antique inspiration and her mastery of simplified and symbolic forms. Biography of Sylva Bernt (1910-1995) Sylva Bernt was an Italian sculptor and designer, born in 1910 in Gorizia, near Trieste, and passed away in 1995. A rare yet recognized artist, she was renowned for her public commissions in Italy and France, where she settled around 1950. In 1952, after meeting André Arbus at painter Guido Cadorin’s studio in Venice, she received her first French commissions. At Arbus’ invitation, she contributed to the construction of the Bretagne ocean liner, creating a large stone altar for the ship’s chapel. This collaboration marked the beginning of a close artistic relationship with Arbus. Settling in Avenue du Maine, Paris, she became Arbus’ practitioner, creating decorative elements that he incorporated into his furniture designs. Together, they worked on prestigious projects, both public and private: Decoration of the ocean liners Vietnam (1952) and Pasteur (1961) Creation of monumental panels for Jean-Marie Terrin’s villa in Aix-en-Provence (1955), carved in pink Chassagne stone, inspired by ancient mythology in a neo-Assyrian style. Her classical inspiration led her to produce some of the most refined modern interpretations of Greco-Roman myths. With extensive knowledge of antique statuary, she mastered materials such as marble, limestone, lead, plaster, terracotta, and bronze. Among her key works, Le Centaure (1961) stands out, showcasing her fluid and spontaneous linework. In 1955, she designed a long historical frieze depicting the Viking epic...
Bronze
Spectacular dining table by Eugène Gaillard ca.1900
By Eugène Gaillard
Located in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FR
Eugène Gaillard (1862–1933) Rectangular dining table in molded and carved walnut, decorated with vegetal motifs around the apron. It rests on four cabriole legs, molded, ribbed, an...
Walnut
20th Century Transition Style French Vitrine after Paul Sormani
By Paul Sormani
Located in Berlin, DE
French Vitrine according to Paul Sormani in transition style. Delicate French cabinet according to Paul Sormani in transition style Bois-Satiné veneer, all-round surface-covering mi...
Bronze
French Vernis Martin Style Vitrine
Located in SAINTE-COLOMBE, FR
French Vernis Martin style vitrine / display cabinet in walnut and sapele mahogany. A very pretty vitrine / display cabinet in the style of Vernis Martin, this piece is constructe...
Ormolu
Charles Dudouyt Style Glass Vitrine
By Charles Dudouyt
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Charles Dudouyt style vitrine with glass upper sliding doors and interior mirror with 2 glass shelves. Lower doors are carved with signature Dudouyt style pattern and open to revea...
Metal
French Late 19th Century Vitrine Cabinet
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A traditional vitrine cabinet made in France in the late 19th century, having a rich mahogany frame and brass inlaid trims all around and beveled glass doors. The doors include a loc...
Brass
20th Century Transition Style French Vitrine
Located in Berlin, DE
Majestic French vitrine in transition style. Root veneer on solid conifers. High-angled, one-door, cambered and three-sided glazed body on tall, slanting, curly feet in sabots. Thre...
Bronze
19th Century French Vitrine
By François Linke
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A fine quality French kingwood, marble topped vitrine having shaped glass to the front and sides. Beautiful ormolu mounts and raised on cabriole legs. The the manner of 'Linke.'.
Ormolu
