Coffee table by Jean-Michel Frank

In 1930, Frank entered into a partnership with Adolph Chanaux, who had already been executing his furniture designs. He acted as creative director for Chanaux & Company, and in 1935 the two would open a boutique under Frank’s name on rue Faubourg-Saint-Honoré dedicated to his designs and those of his artist and architect collaborators, such as Christian Béard and Emilio Terry.

Frank soon developed an international following, thanks in part to influential tastemakers such as Syrie Maughm in England and Francis Elkins in the United States that helped to nurture local interest in his designs. In Argentina, Ignacio Pirovano, interior designer and curator at the National Museum of Decorative Arts, proved to be an effective champion of Frank’s work.

Pirovano co-founded the firm Comte in 1932 to provide fine interior decor for the local market and began importing Frank models from Paris for placement in design projects as well as for retail sale. In 1936, Comte entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Frank to produce his designs locally, and by 1937 the firm had set up a workshop to execute these models, as well as a broader offering of period and contemporary designs.

Frank completed a string of private projects in Argentina starting in the late 1930s, including the vast interiors for the home of Jorge Born and Maria Frías Ayerza Born (completed 1940) and the public spaces of the Llao Llao Hotel in Patagonia (1938). With the onset of the second world war, Frank immigrated to Argentina and briefly became creative director for Comte, appointing a number interiors for local society figures.

Literature:
Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Jean-Michel Frank: The Strange and Subtle Luxury of the Parisian Haute-Monde in the Art Deco Period, New York, 2008, pgs. 129, 159, 184 for similar in var. materials
Léopold Diego Sanchez, Jean-Michel Frank: Adolphe Chanaux, Paris, 1997, pg. 211 for similar veneering, 213 for similar in oak