Elise Djo-Bourgeois (1894-1986) was a designer of decorative textiles, wallpapers and carpets. She was active during the inter-war period and designed for Maison Maurice Lauer, a brand that was later purchased by Pierre Frey in the 1990s. I’d not come across her work before, but I think these beautiful, modernist designs are simply stunning.
Now an exhibition of Djo-Bourgeois’ design work from the Lauer archives, supported by fabrics and carpets from Pierre Frey, is on at Villa Noailles in Hyères, France.
From Pierre Frey:
“Elise Djo-Bourgeois’ art is unique in several ways and easily recognizable. She uses the geometric pattern as a pictorial language but her creations are never rigid. Voluntarily limited to three or even four colours, her compositions show an elaborate combination of circles, rectangles, triangles and broken lines. The white that is always present strongly defines the relationship between shape and colour. The chromatic range used by the artist is subtle and wide, from pastel tones to more contrasting colour combinations.”
Here are some of my favourite pieces from Pierre Frey’s current Archives Gazette… and you can see and read more here.
A custom-made “Djo” carpet by Pierre Frey, shown in a room setting from the exhibition with modern furnishings and accessories:
A detail of the Pierre Frey “Djo” carpet:
A printed cotton canvas fabric and the original printed paper:
Another printed fabric with the original printed paper:
