Max Ingrand: transparency

As part of the sale dedicated to design on Wednesday 15 July 2020 at La Patinoire Royale in Brussels, PIASA auction house is pleased to offer for sale six pieces designed by Max Ingrand. They are a faithful testimony to the virtuosity of the man who established himself as one of the leading figures of 20th century French glassmaking. 

If we retrace the route that led Max Ingrand to the art of glassmaking, it seems important to rush into the nave of Chartres Cathedral. The bewitching depth of the midnight blue of the some 2600 square metres of stained glass adorning this jewel of Gothic architecture amazes the young man. The countless visits of this chartrain born in 1908 will have a considerable influence on his career. 

He arrived in Paris in the mid-1920s and enrolled at the National School of Decorative Arts. It was here that he frequented artists, designers and architects such as Jacques Gruber (1870-1936), himself trained in Nancy and then with the painter Gustave Moreau. In 1927 Max Ingrand entered the workshop of this master glassmaker who was the author of the great glass roof of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. 

For four years, he trained in glass, stained glass and engraved glass techniques. It was only in 1931 that he decided to leave his master to found his own company. Following an initial work on the glass roof of the nave of Notre-Dame de Paris, he was entrusted with several prestigious projects by the Historical Monuments Department in the immediate post-war period.

He thus collaborated in the restoration of the cathedrals of Rouen and Beauvais, and a few years later those of Saint-Malo and Strasbourg. During the last years of his life, he directed his career towards interior architecture and lighting and quite logically produced luminaires in which glass now had to be combined with other materials, It was in 1954 that this famous French master glassmaker and decorator became artistic director of Fontana Arte for a decade. He designed true design classics, such as the Fontana table lamp, which is still a sales success for the company whose name it bears today. 

Among the pieces on sale on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, is the "Marco 2020" model lamp made of brass, lacquered metal and glass. Published by Fontana Arte, dated 1961, it is estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000 euros. 

The coffee table in brass, metal and glass, also published by Fontana Arte, was made in the 1950s. This piece makes particularly good use of the lightness and elegance of the material. It has been estimated at between 5,000 and 7,000 euros. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)