Eugène Printz

Private Collection, Paris, 1980s

Christie's Paris, May 20, 2014, lot 36

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Bernard Champignuelle, "Le Vingt-Quatrième Salon des Artistes Décorateurs", Mobilier et Décoration, June 1934, p. 218 (for the petit modèle)

“Le Projet d’Eugène Printz”, Art & Industrie, January 1934, pp. 24-25

Henri Clouzot, "Eugène Printz: mobilier et architecte," Mobilier et Décoration, November 1934, p. 414

Bernard Champigneulle, "Entretien avec Eugène Printz," Mobilier et Décoration, January 1936, pp. 162, 171, 174

Guy Bujon and Jean-Jacques Dutko, Eugène Printz, Paris, 1986, p. 156

Eugène Printz's monumental oxidized brass chandelier, created in 1934, stands as a defining example of French Art Deco luxury and craftsmanship. Documented in the interiors of Monsieur N., this extraordinary luminaire exemplifies Printz's masterful ability to transform functional lighting into sculptural art.

The chandelier's oxidized brass construction reveals Printz's sophisticated understanding of material patination, creating rich, variegated surface textures that shift from deep bronze to golden highlights, with the deliberate oxidation process enhancing the metal's visual complexity.

Printz, who emerged as one of the most innovative furniture designers of the interwar period, consistently challenged conventional boundaries between decorative arts and fine art. This chandelier represents not merely illumination but a statement of sophisticated taste, embodying the synthesis of traditional French craftsmanship with modernist sensibilities that defined the 1930s.

This is the only chandelier of this model to appear at auction and represents a unique opportunity to acquire a monumental luminaire by Eugène Printz.