Maurice Dufrene (art deco, designer, 1876-1955)
A founder member of the Societe des Artistes Decorateurs, Dufrene with Leon Jallot, was among the group of French designers who became known as the Constructeurs, before the First World War.
Dufrene had worked on Meier-Graefe’s ‘La Maison Moderne’ around 1900 designing in the Art Nouveau style.
By 1910, his work adapted more simplified forms using more substantial materials and construction.
Dufrene’s open acceptance of mass production in the 1920s, when he became the artistic director of the studio La Maitrise led to a prolific output.
At the 1925 Paris Exposition, as well as the La Maitrise pavilion, Dufrene designed the ‘petit salon’ in the ‘Ambassade Francaise’, a boutique for the furrier Jungman, and the row of shoes on the Pont Alexandre Ill.
Dufrene’s stylistic development continued into the 1930s when he experimented with steel and glass.