As part of the auction dedicated to Italian design on March 25, 2021, PIASA is pleased to offer for auction numerous pieces by Max Ingrand. These pieces are a faithful testimony to the virtuosity of the artist who is one of the leading figures in 20th century glassmaking.
If one is to retrace the route that led Max Ingrand to the art of glassmaking, it seems important to enter the nave of Chartres Cathedral. The bewitching depth of the midnight blue of the 2600 square meters of stained glass windows adorning this jewel of gothic architecture amazes the young man. The countless visits of this Chartres native 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 met artists, designers and architects such as Jacques Gruber (1870-1936), who himself had trained in Nancy and then with the painter Gustave Moreau. In 1927, Max Ingrand entered the workshop of this master glass artist who was the author of the great glass roof of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris.
Max Ingrand (1908-1969)
Model n°2044 'Pistil'
Estimate : 18 000 / 25 000 €
For four years, he trained in the techniques of glass, stained glass and engraved glass. It was not until 1931 that he decided to leave his master to found his own company. Following a first work on the glass of the nave of Notre-Dame de Paris, he was entrusted in the immediate post-war period several prestigious sites by the service of historical monuments.
He collaborated in the restoration of the cathedral of Rouen and Beauvais, and 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 realized, logically enough, luminaries in which glass had to compose with other materials.
Max Ingrand (1908-1969)
Suspension
Estimated: 12 000 / 25 000 €
In 1954, this famous French master glassmaker and decorator became artistic director of FontanaArte 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.
Among the pieces offered for sale on Wednesday, March 25, 2021, is this table lamp made of lacquered metal and cut and polished glass. Published by Fontana Arte, dated 1963, it is estimated between 25,000 and 30,000 euros. This piece exploits particularly well the lightness and elevation of the material.
Max Ingrand (1908-1969)
Table Lamp
Estimate: 25 000 / 30 000 €
The table lamp in brass, lacquered wood and sandblasted glass also edited by Fontana Arte was made in 1959. Its estimate has been established between 18 000 and 25 000 euros.
Max Ingrand (1908-1969)
Floor lamp
Estimate: 18 000 / 25 000 €
