Wall sconce attributed to André Arbus

Wall sconce attributed to ANDRÉ ARBUS (Toulouse, France, 1903-1969). France, second half of the twentieth century.
Artistic glass and metal.
In good overall condition. Being a vintage piece, it may present marks consistent with age and the passage of time.
Measurements: 50 x 18 x 12 cm.

The wall sconces by André Arbus are the highest expression of French Neoclassicism of the twentieth century. Arbus rejected the coldness of massive industrial design to recover the tradition of luxury, craftsmanship and architectural elegance, as we see in the piece on tender. Unlike the more commercial Art Deco, Arbus' designs have an almost architectural structure. He uses pure forms - circles, arrows, lyres and torches - that refer directly to the Empire and Directory styles, but simplified for modern tastes.

André Arbus was a fundamental French architect and designer who led the return to Neoclassicism within the decorative arts of the 20th century, moving away from industrial production to reclaim luxury and traditional savoir-faire. Trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse in a family of cabinetmakers, he settled in Paris in 1932, where he excelled in creating furniture and interiors of great elegance characterized by the use of noble materials such as parchment, lacquer and bronze, fusing the rigorousness of classical proportions with a modern sensibility. Throughout her prolific career, which included everything from the design of the Planier lighthouse to prestigious commissions for embassies and ocean liners, Arbus championed a timeless aesthetic that earned her admission to the Academy of Fine Arts and cemented her legacy as the last great master of the "French style."