What makes a designer successful? How do creations pass through time until they become milestones, landmarks in a history of decorative arts in perpetual motion? Liaigre's story is exemplary in this respect and provides elements of an answer...
In the mid-1980s Christian Liaigre exhibited his first pieces of furniture in his showroom on the Left Bank, immediately laying the foundations of an aesthetic vocabulary that was intended to be long-lasting. Without ever yielding to the seductions of the air of time, his furniture praises an apparent simplicity, imposing its clean lines, its classicism nourished by a solid culture, as a form of minimalism that contrasts with some of the trends of the time.
But nothing in this writing tends towards neutrality or the "consensus" of a creativity without any fault of taste, that's not the point! Behind this asceticism of the lines, this will not to claim any avant-garde, is the conception of an art of living and living that prefigures a concern for well-being at the heart of the reflections of many interior architects and decorators today. But above all, beyond simplicity and sobriety, Liaigre's taste for noble and natural materials and for the use of handcrafted materials leads to a mastery of the most demanding know-how and extreme care for every detail without giving in to the superfluous.
Christian Liaigre (né en 1943)
Orion
Estimation : 4500 / 6500 €
The beauty of each of these creations (furniture, lighting, accessories) is born of quality: the quality of the design, the conception, the materials, the manufacturing and the finishes. But this beauty is also born from the generosity of proportions, from a particular attention to ergonomics, gestures, feeling, touch of materials and textures, from what we call comfort in the broadest sense of the term...
However, this style, which is deliberately out of fashion and timeless, is not without references. On the contrary, it is rich in multiple influences and inspirations, nourishing an uncluttered style that reveals itself over time and through projects developed in the four corners of the world in places ranging from the big metropolis to the remote island, from the high mountain chalet to the penthouse. Each piece of furniture and each accessory is thought out and designed for a specific architectural project well before being integrated into the House's showrooms.
Christian Liaigre (né en 1943)
Beluga
Estimation : 12000 / 18000 €
This obvious pragmatism has not hindered either the creativity or the influences mentioned above. Christian Liaigre's first creations are marked by his love of horse riding. Ergonomics and sobriety are magnified by the beauty of the wood species and the quality of the leathers used in the rules of cabinet making and high quality saddlery. The palette of natural shades in browns, ecru, beiges, greys, whites and blacks expresses the discreet elegance of a masculine universe. At the same time, one of the great influences that runs through Liaigre's style is that of Modernism: simplicity of shapes as close as possible to the line, sophistication and refinement of materials (wood, bronze, lacquer), timeless modernity.
Very quickly, the aesthetics developed by Liaigre seemed to echo the reflections of certain architects and designers of the 1920s, such as Jean-Michel Frank, Pierre Chareau or Paul Dupré Lafon, all of whom were able to think about living spaces in their time by imagining the spaces, their layouts, the furniture and lighting that were to be integrated into them, but also the uses that were attached to them in a luxury of attentive details that resulted in a feeling of well-being.
Christian Liaigre (né en 1943)
Opium
Estimation : 3000 / 4000 €
Art is one of the great references in Liaigre's vocabulary, whether it be the plasters or bronzes of Alberto and Diego Giacometti, the sculptures of Constantin Brancusi, whose famous "Endless Column" seems to have inspired the iconic stool/table "Nagato", American Minimalism as embodied by Donald Judd, bringing forms back to the essentials of geometry, or the radicality of the primitive arts, African and Oceanian art, the sources of much of Western modernity.
Christian Liaigre (né en 1943)
Nagato
Estimation : 800 / 1200 €
Finally, Japan holds a special place at the heart of these different sources of inspiration. How can we fail to draw a parallel between the displayed modesty or apparent restraint of Japanese objects, most of which proceed from a sophisticated implementation, and Liaigre's creations? It is more pertinent to speak of the affinity or convergence of an ideal that tends towards invisible luxury, a luxury that demands attention in order to impose itself. The subtle work of the materials, the tactility of the objects that we apprehend in use, a universe that cultivates discretion and depth and is well suited to a certain patina left by the passage of time.
The 80 pieces of furniture and exhibits from Liaigre's various showrooms offered at this sale convey this identity as well as the values that make up their DNA, making some of these pieces icons of the contemporary art of living. Far from the fuss, the Liaigre style digs a continuous furrow in time. In contrast to the usual external signs of luxury, it avoids the pitfalls of luxury, to reach its quintessence. Conveying a strong cultural content and solidly linked to the purity of lines that characterizes them, Liaigre's creations have been able to impose their own tempo ...
If a creator's imagination is nourished by images, experiences and accumulated emotions, Liaigre manages to transcribe them or to fix them in the permanence of a style, made of balance and harmony. This ideal of beauty has been seducing amateurs and international collectors for nearly forty years.
Françoise-Claire Prodhon
