Galerie Chastel-Maréchal at TEFAF Maastricht 2020

THE EYE OF A PARISIAN COLLECTOR

Galerie Chastel-Maréchal, famous gallery specialized in Decorative Arts from the 20th century located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, will exhibit for the first time at TEFAF Maastricht from 7 to 15 March 2020. For her first participation, Aline Chastel presents her refined universe, originating from her trained curator’s eye, in a scenography imagined by Jean de Piépape

To celebrate her first participation in TEFAF, Aline Chastel exhibits about twenty rare mirrors and several exceptional lights by Line Vautrin, renowned creator whose work found the recognition it de-served on the art market in part through the efforts of the gallerist. They are in dialogue with important pieces by Jean Royère, a selection of Brazilian furniture from the 1950s and ‘60s, and rare ceramics by some of the greatest French Post-War creators. A number of these pieces are treasures from her very own collection.

Line Vautrin – Gerbera Mirror. Towards 1955
Red Talosel and Garnet Colored Mirrors – diametre 28 cm
© Agence Phar – V. Luc & J. Beylard

Red, brown, fuchsia, garnet, pink, green or blue, they shine bright: a selection of exceedingly rare mirrors and lights by Line Vautrin, sometimes even previously unseen on the art market, take centre stage on the booth of Galerie Chastel-Maréchal which offers the first focus dedicated to this artist at TEFAF.

In glass and Talosel, a synthetic resin invented by the artist herself that gave her an infinite choice of shapes and colours, these pieces sparkle with a shiny and mysterious translucency.

This unusual aesthete, who spent a period in the fashion world working with Elsa Schiaparelli, devoted herself to creating objects that captured her imaginings. Aline Chastel, who is a leading specialist of Line Vautrin, dedicated an exhibition to her work as early as 1998 before revealing the full range and scope of the designer’s mirrors in 2004, in a retrospective still referred to today, which was accompanied by a book written by the art historian Patrick Mauriès.

Line Vautrin – Oxide Pepples Mirror. Towards 1960
White Talosel, Lumaline Glas, Colored Glass, Weathered Glass imitating oxidation – diametre 66 cm
©Agence Phar – V. Luc & J. Beylard

Line Vautrin was fascinated by nature, and particularly by the sun, which doubtless explains her love of mirrors and lights.

Mirror ‘Folie’ evokes a dancing Calder-esque sun; The ‘Gerbera’ seems about to let a gar-net-coloured petal “y away.

‘Cailloux oxydés’, a spectacular and important iridescent grey mirror, suggests the alchemical metamorphosis of stone…

Aline Chastel shares with her artist, who also worked with bronze and mother-of-pearl, an almost-obsessive passion for beautiful materials

Testament to her affinity with the creator, the gallerist also presents a dozen of Line Vautrin’s bronze cuffs, pieces of modern, luxurious jewellery which were highly sought after when made by chic Parisian women and which are no strangers to Aline Chastel’s wrist. The innovative and precious works of the artist take us back to the elegance of post-war Paris, eager for transformation and lightness.

Fantasy, innovation and a taste for luxury are some of the characteristics. Line Vautrin shares with the architect and designer Jean Royère, another star of the interior design world at that time. He even integrated her pieces in a number of his prestigious projects. Royère is most definitely one of the most imaginative aesthetes represented on Aline Chastel’s stand.

The gallery devoted a whole show to him in 2005. Here, the focal piece is an exceptional sideboard from the early 1950s coming from a private collection. Bearing a subtle herring-bone motif in red, white and brown in straw marquetry, its proportions evoke a piece of jewellery resting on four cubic feet

Lina Bo Bardi- Ball Chair (Bola de Latão), 1951.
Only exemplar available on the market of the original serie of six chairs of 1951. The other five chairs are still in la Casa de Vidro, hause of Lina Bo Bardi in Sao Paulo.
© Agence Phar – V. Luc & J. Beylard

The elegance and unimpeachable provenance of this selection is also apparent in Aline Chastel’s choice of post-war Brazilian furniture, a field scarcely represented in France. True to her pioneering spirit, she is also one of the first to propose such pieces at Maastricht.She is showing an exceptional chair in leather and metal by Lina Bo Bardi, a leading figure in modern Brazil and a source of inspiration for designers from both sides of the Atlantic today.

This sculptural, museum-worthy piece re”ects the pure lines of the collection of modern ceramics she is exhibiting. Highly knowledgeable in this domain, Aline Chastel has been collecting such pieces for 25 years

On a coffee table by Georges Jouve dating from the late 1950s made from cement inlaid with shards of white ceramic, Aline Chastel places a large, enamelled black earthenware vase also by him, re”ecting the two pieces’ original disposition in the de-signer’s studio.

We also find an architectural lamp from André Borderie, which is one of his most iconic designs and a masterpiece in the private collection of the gallerist. Next to it is an astonishing ceramic by Pierre and Vera Szekely made in 1950. These two creators worked with Borderie for a long time, primarily on monumental projects installed in utopic residences of the 1960s and ‘70s.

Georges Jouve – Low Table, 1959
White Cermanic Schuttles embedded in Concrete. H 40 x 112 x 42 cm
© Agence Phar – V. Luc & J. Beylar

This cultivated intimacy with objects is the key to Aline Chastel’s personal universe. Aesthetically exacting, it sets itself apart from cliché, attracting collectors who return again and again. This is also the essence of her work as a gallery owner, for she considers herself a trans-mitter of beautiful things. As she says: