Louis SOGNOT (1892-1970) and Charlotte ALIX (1897-1987) - Lot 56

Louis SOGNOT (1892-1970) and Charlotte ALIX (1897-1987) Suite of three "Roussel UCLAF" model armchairs with blackened iron frame and large flat aluminum leaf applications, flat aluminum leaf bandeau back curved on the sides. Modern upholstery covered in red imitation leather Designed and built circa 1929-1930 H: 81 cm W: 59.5 cm D: 51 cm (used condition) Provenance: Private collection, Paris Note: Model specially designed for the boardroom of UCLAF's Roussel laboratories. Exhibition: Union des Artistes Modernes, 1 ère exposition, Pavillon de Marsan, June 11-July 14, 1930 Bibliography: -Anne Bony, Louis SOGNOT, Editions du Regard, Paris, 2024, model reproduced on pages 58, 59, 60 and 61. - Pierre Kjellberg Art déco Les Maîtres du mobilier Le décor des paquebots Les Editions de l'Amateur, Paris, 1986, on an archive photograph reproduced on page 175. - L'Amour de l'art September 1930 L'Union des Artistes Modernes Gaston Varenne, Editions Imprimeries Paul Dupont, Paris, seats reproduced on pages 369 and 371. - Mobilier et Décoration April 1931 Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix décorateurs Georges Rémon, Editions Edmond Honoré, Paris. Our chairs reproduced on page 132. - Les Echos des Industries d'Art July 1930 A l'Union des Artistes Modernes René Chavance, Editions Les Echos, Paris. Our chairs reproduced on page 22. -L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, April-May 1931. - Mobilier et Décoration July 1930 La 1ère exposition de l'Union des Artistes Modernes Georges Rémon, Editions Edmond Honoré, Paris, seats reproduced page 7. - Art et Décoration Août 1930 Le premier Salon de l'Union des Artistes Modernes Léon Werth, Editions Albert Lévy, Paris, seats reproduced on pages 60 and 61. In 1928, Dr. Gaston Roussel founded UCLAF, the Union Chimique des Laboratoires Associés Français, in partnership with chemists, pharmacists and biologists. It was then decided to build a new building, named Pasteur, in Romainville, a town that had always been Dr. Roussel's place of professional activity. The building was designed to house the company's research center, administrative offices and boardroom. On the outskirts, workshops, warehouses, garages, a refectory, a boiler room and a water tower were erected on a 7-hectare site. By this time, the company already had 2,000 employees. The Pasteur building, UCLAF's showcase, was inaugurated in 1930. Charlotte Alix, after working with Baron de Rothschild from 1925 to 1927, founded the Bureau International des Arts Français with Louis Sognot in 1928. The name chosen for the agency, located rue de l'Abbé Grégoire in the 6th arrondissement, already reflected the program and philosophy of the two decorators. Charlotte Alix had long enjoyed a friendly relationship with Dr. Roussel, who had always encouraged her passion for decoration and modern furniture design. It was therefore only natural that UCLAF's founder selected Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix to fit out the library and boardroom of the new Pasteur building. The two decorators designed a modular boardroom, with a large table made up of independent elements that can be transformed into work islands. The aesthetic identity of this room was defined mainly by aluminum slat chairs, fixed by visible screws to black lacquered iron structures. Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix quickly realized the importance of this design and presented it at the first Salon de l'Union des Artistes Modernes, held at the Pavillon de Marsan in 1930. The Maharaja of Indore's commission is also among their emblematic works. Every enthusiast, enlightened amateur, art historian or professional of the modernist movement of the inter-war years remembers the archival images of this boardroom for UCLAF.