Andre Groult

(1884-1966)

Andre Groult, was one of the most important and influential French designers of the Art Deco period. Beginning around 1910, he sought to create his own form of neotraditionalism. He along with a handful of other designers, led by Ruhlmann and including Paul Follot, Andre Domin, Michel Roux-Spitz, Maurice Noel, Maurice Dufrene, Andre Frechet, Louis Sue and Andre Mare, were the leading Progressive Traditionalists. They were described in the period by Guillaume Janneau as “a singular mixture of daring curiosity and selected culture”. A group who, furthermore, considered themselves contemporary but not modern.

Groult formed his own company, which was multi-disciplinary, after having worked for the Paris shop La Maison Moderne. There he had led the shift from Art Nouveau towards more restrained Classical styles.

For the Ambassade Français (the French “Embassy” commissioned by the French government to represent the sublime of French contemporary design) at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925, Groult designed the “Chambre de Madame” in shades of pink and gray. The furniture with its gently undulating curves, was covered or accented in natural galuchat.

Groult’s wife, Nicole, a fashion designer, was the sister of French couturier Paul Poiret.