Regularly presented during design auction sells, Max Ingrand's lamps, tables, wall lights or other mirrors are a faithful testimony to the virtuosity of the man who stands out as one of the leading figures in 20th century French glassmaking.
If we retrace the itinerary that led Max Ingrand to the art of glassmaking, it is necessary to rush into the vastness of the nave of Chartres Cathedral. The bewitching depth of the dark blue of the 2600m2 of stained glass decorating this jewel of Gothic architecture amazes the young Max Ingrand. The countless visits of this Chartrain born in 1908 will have a considerable influence on the career he will embrace.
He moved to Paris in the mid-1920s and enrolled at the École nationale des arts décoratifs. There he met artists, designers and architects, including Jacques Gruber (1870-1936), himself trained in Nancy and then with the painter Gustave Moreau. Max Ingrand entered the workshop of this master glassmaker in 1927, who was the author of the great glass roof of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. For four years, he trained in the techniques of glass, stained glass and engraved glass. In 1931, Max Ingrand decided to leave his master to found his own company.
Max Ingrand (1908-1969)
Coffee table
Estimate : 5000 / 7000 €
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Following a first work on the glass roofs of the Notre-Dame de Paris nave, he was entrusted with several prestigious projects in the immediate post-war period by the Historic Monuments Department. He thus collaborated in the restoration of the cathedrals of Rouen and Beauvais, then a few years later those of Saint-Malo and Strasbourg.
During the last years of his life, he oriented his career towards interior architecture and lighting and quite logically created luminaires in which glass had to be made of other materials, as can be seen on the "model n°2338" three-armed floor lamp.
Max Ingrand (1908-1969)
Model n° 2338
Estimate : 7000 / 9000 €
Perhaps because he remembers his first aesthetic encounter in Chartres, Max Ingrand will often have the opportunity to work with coloured glass such as this brass table edited in the 1950's by Fontana Arte.
Max Ingrand (1908-1969)
Table
Estimate : 12000 / 18000 €
It was in 1954 that this famous French master glassmaker and decorator became artistic director of Fontana Arte for a decade. He designs true design classics, such as the Fontana table lamp, which is still a success story for the company whose name it bears today.
