André Groult (1884 – 1966)
André Groult was a French decorator and designer of furniture.
Groult’s early work, with its intricate forms derived from nature, demonstrates overlapping tendencies with Art Nouveau. Much of his later work can therefore be described as Art Deco. He privilegied curving and organic shapes covered with delicate and precious exotic woods and shagreen (leather made from sharkskin). Groult 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 Süe and Andre Mare, considered themselves contemporary but not modern. He participated to several iconic Art Deco projects such as the 1925 International Exhibition and the SS Normandie sea liner. Groult’s wife, Nicole, a fashion designer, was the sister of French couturier Paul Poiret. Tied to the art community, the Groults befriended and collaborated with a number of artists and fellow designers, among them Marie Laurencin, Louis Süe, Kees van Dongen, André Derain, Marcel Duchamp, Odilon Redon and Francis Picabia.
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