Jean Royère

Jean Royère (1902–1981) was one of the leading figures of French twentieth-century decorative arts. While absorbing the zeitgeist, and riffing on the modernist vocabulary, his sense of proportion, texture and colour twisted and turned the common into something original and theretofore unseen. His designs exhibited a degree of flamboyance and reverie that separated him from the pack; pursuing a steadfastly decorative direction in stark contrast to his peers.

Coming late to his métier, at the age of 29, Jean Royère left a secure job in the import-export trade to pursue a career in design. Intelligent, pragmatic and entirely self-directed, Jean Royère started his training in the cabinet-making workshops of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine district of Paris. This education resulted in an approach to design that was centered on traditional craft, allowing for innovation through an intricate understanding of making.

Jean Royère worked as a décorateur-ensemblier, designing both the interiors and the pieces that would furnish the spaces of his diverse clientele, from local doctors and lawyers in France, to middle-eastern royalty. Working first through his own agency in Paris, which opened in 1942, through the 1950s he opened offices and galleries in the new centers of Beirut, Cairo, Sao Paulo, Lima and Saint-Tropez. His designs took inspiration from these rich cultures as much as from the nature surrounding his homes in France and Spain.