When I first saw images of Oursin (above), the seafood restaurant by the fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus and Caviar Kaspia, located on the 2ème étage of the Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées, was immediately reminded of a snippet of film or video I watched with P recently about an artist who constructed his entire home with alcoves and cubbies especially designed to fit his things, such as a frying pan-shaped spot for his pan, another for pots and utensils, and so on. Can’t seem to remember the artist’s name, though.
Not long after that, our Paris editor sent me the photo (below), which I had come across on Instagram before, of a grotto design by Luc Bertrand and Kim Haddou (an interior design duo based in Paris) that was the winning project in the Design Parade Competition Toulon, France in 2018. The idea for the grotto was that it was to be a small reading room―a place apart to read, write and think, sheltered from the tumult of the outside world; a library made of niches carved into the wall that were inspired by secular Mediterranean architecture.
When they posted the project on their Instagram page, someone seem to call out Jacquemus for copying their design for Oursin, to which he quickly replied, “my first shop in galerie Lafayette who open in 2017 was already in this mood inspired by Valentine Schlegel and many other artist from 70’s!”
(As an aside, if you remember from our grammar guide, he should have written ’70s)
Punctuation aside, the pottery displayed at Oursin did have a Valentine Schlegel-esque quality to them, but the alcoves and cubbies, less so. Born in 1925 in Southeastern France, Schlegel’s classical art background resulted in far-ranging works, from leather bags and sandals and abstract clay vessels, to wooden flatware and what would come to be her best-known work: beautifully fluid sculptural plaster fireplaces, the immovable nature of which is thought to have contributed to her never becoming as well-known as other artists. Schlegel’s work revels in organic abstraction, sensuous curves, and a minimalistic modernist sensibility.
grotto
Concours Design Parade Toulon, France, 2018 – Projet lauréat
Grotto est un petit salon de lecture imaginé pour le concours Design Parade Toulon organisé par la Villa Noailles.
Un endroit à part, où lire, écrire réfléchir à l’abri du tumulte du monde extérieur. Une bibliothèque faite de niches creusées à même le mur fait écho à une architecture méditerranéenne séculaire.
Projet récompensé par le Grand Prix Van Cleef & Arpels, Design Parade Toulon 2018.
Avec le soutien précieux de: Galerie Desprez Breheret, Mosaic del Sur, Céramiques du Beaujolais, Pierre Frey, Wilo & Grove, Debeaulieu, Poterie Ravel, Make’s concept.
Above, more images from Oursin, the very Mediterranean-inspired restaurant by Jacquemus and Caviar Kaspia at the Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées.
Photography: Suzanne Fournier-Schlegel/Valentine Schlegel ©/VISDA.dk. (via Kinfolk)ABOVE, WORKS BY VALENTINE SCHLEGEL
Born in 1925, Valentine Schlegel developed her constantly changing daily art practice between Paris and Sète. Like a Swiss Army knife, she eventually mastered several techniques, producing everyday objects with sculptural shapes that include wooden flatware, ceramic vases, leather bags, and plaster fireplaces. Designed without any inherent hierarchy, and often in collaboration with the artist’s friends, this body of work is made up of objects in a range of sizes and uses, from the fantastic to the quotidian. Schlegel also created many architectural elements in plaster intended for home interiors. Because of their immovable nature, these sculptures for everyday life are also the reason why Schlegel’s work has remained little known. If she did not address only the world of art exhibitions through her work, she was nevertheless part of historic events at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at a time when the Pompidou Center did not exist. ―Mousse Magazine
Sculptural plaster fireplaces
Above, one of mid-century French artist Valentine Schlegel’s sculptural plaster fireplaces for which she was most known, and left, a reproduction of the design by Joe Lucas of Lucas Studio for Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach, created by Classic Moldings Inc.
Above, the Sculpture House by Jacques Couëlle, Cannes, a great inspiration for the carefree, boho Mediterranean vibe that seems to be everywhere in design at the moment. Below, an eclectic bookcase and floor lamp from Urban Outfitters ‘ new range that uncannily captures the spirit of this southern French style.
Urban Outfitters‘s eclectic bookshelf, made of six unique cubbies in different shapes and sizes featuring irregular rounded edges and a faux stucco finish, is perfect for artful displays. Use it to store recent reads, favourite ceramics, plants, trinkets, art pieces and more.
Above, scenes from Valentine Schlegel's home
Born in Sète (south of France) in 1925, Valentine Schlegel enjoyed a carefree childhood, and her creative talents began with roaming through her father’s carpentry and upholstery workshop, his boat, and the beach. In 1942, the young Valentine entered the Beaux-Art in Montpellier and within a few weeks of her enrollment, the gifted student skipped ahead to her 4th year. She worked for the first Avignon Performing Arts Festivals as an assistant costume designer, prop specialist, and eventually chief stage manager. In 1945 Schlegel moved to Paris and discovered ceramics. These works were inspired by nature, and the native Mediterranean landscapes of her hometown. She also experimented with materials common to her surroundings, such as wood and leather. Her primitive yet sophisticated sculptures/objects made her one of the most important ceramists of the 50s.
Juggling her time between Paris and the south of France, Schlegel continued to develop her constantly changing art practice. She eventually mastered several techniques; producing everyday objects with sculptural shapes that include wooden flatware, ceramic vases, leather bags, and plaster fireplaces. Designed without any inherent hierarchy, and often in collaboration with the artist’s friends, this body of work is made up of objects that range in size and use, from the fantastic to the quotidian.
In 1960, Schlegal began to focus more on architectural elements for the home. Working in plaster, her own house has become the best example of her sculptural fantasy world. She viewed interiors as another natural realm, full of surprises, reflections, and shapes. She was now working in a new scale, but her work continued to evoke humanity and real emotion, just like everything else she touched. ―Commune Design
SHOP
Modern-boho table lamp featuring a cylindrical base wrapped in a geometric arrangement of rattan strands. Topped with a woven drum shade on a metal tube neck.
Above, the grotto design by Luc Bertrand and Kim Haddou, based on based on classic Mediterranean architecture, that was the winning project in the Design Parade Competition Toulon, France in 2018.
Above, room design by Joe Lucas of Lucas Studio for Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach, in the boho Mediterranean style so loved and often emulated by designers at the moment.
Jewelry Designer Sonia Boyajian’s 5,000 square foot La Brea Avenue store in Los Angeles features pale pink walls and sculptural built-ins to display the designer’s pieces, which include ceramics. The space was designed by Pamela Shamshiri of Studio Shamshiri, who was inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Santa Fe studio.
Above, another glimpse of the grotto design by Luc Bertrand and Kim Haddou that was the winning project in the Design Parade Competition Toulon, France in 2018.
SHOP
ARTFULLY MODERN MANGO WOOD STOOL THAT DOUBLES AS A SIDE TABLE OR DISPLAY PIECE, FEATURING A CYLINDRICAL CONSTRUCTION WITH A ROUND CUTOUT THAT CAN BE USED TO SHOW OFF YOUR FAVORITE READS, PLANTS OR CERAMICS.
