Vintage rattan chest of drawers attributed to Audoux & Minet, circa 1950

3-drawer rattan chest of drawers attributed to Adrien Audoux and Frida Minnet. Circa 1950. Condition of wear consistent with age and use. The last drawer rubs a little. Adrien Audoux and Frida Minet were a duo of extremely productive French modernist designers in the 1940s and 1950s. Their design ethos was grounded in new and accessible materials and technologies, representing the realities of modern life. They were members of the Union of Modern Artists (UAM), created in 1929 by a group of modernist designers including, among others, Charlotte Perriand, Francis Jourdain, Louis Sognot and Pierre Chareau. This group was founded in reaction to the design ethos of the Society of Decorative Artists (SAD), of which many UAM designers were originally members, and which tended to cater to the needs of the elite easy to Paris. The members of the sad (Follot, Dufrene, Herbst, etc.) created expensive pieces to satisfy the sumptuous taste of their clientele. audoux minet's playful and innovative use of materials such as rope and tubular metal has given rise to a new approach to design, accessible to more people, and simple frames clad in abaca (hemp rope ) woven have become their trademark. They had a point of sale in Golfe-Juan, a Provençal coastal town bordering Vallauris, where Picasso was working at the time. It was a hotbed of artistic creativity and a destination for affluent, design-hungry travelers.

Ref. : 4X85A1QX