Biography

François Décorchemont (Conches 1880 - 1971 Conches)

From furniture making to glass art

The young François, son of a family of artists, craftsmen and art enthusiasts, was taught drawing education by his grandfather Victor-Auguste, a chest carver. The latter encouraged him as well to paint and draw freely, the family talked about art history, history and poetry. Father Emile was already a well-known free artist. In 1895, François entered the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. He studied painting, sculpture and decoration. But he also devoted himself to furniture making, for example, a children's chair stemmed from his pen, which was presented at the school's annual exhibition in 1899 and received favorable mention in the contemporary press. From 1901 on, he also experimented with stoneware objects and high-firing glazes, but abandoned ceramics already around 1902/03 in favor of first self-taught experiments with pâte de verre objects ('pâte fine'). In 1907, the artist moved back to his hometown of Conches, where he set up his workshop with a kiln. The subject of pâte de verre was to remain with him throughout his life. He refined the technique several times over the years.

After exhibiting his first objects at the Paris Salon des Artistes Français in 1903, the Adrien Dubouché Museum in Limoges was the first institution to secure two of Décorchemont's early works. In 1906, he participated in the World's Fair in Milan with his objects. Exhibitions followed, among others, at the Grand Palais in Paris, another World's Fair in Ghent, 1912, Geneva, in Charlottenburg, 1913 and Brussels 1914. At the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels 1925 in Paris he participated to exhibit his works in the category of luxury goods. On his induction into the Legion of Honor as early as 1923, he declared: "Our organization, temperament and taste prevent us from producing huge quantities at very low prices. Let us direct our efforts to the novel, well-made object with a personal character. " (S. 123).

We regularly sell objects by François Décorchemont in our auctions. If you would like to sell your objects, our experts are always at your disposal.

Literature: Ayroles, François Décorchemont, Paris 2006.

Objects by François Décorchemont