Eugène PRINTZ
1889 - 1948
Eugène Printz did not follow any academic course as a cabinetmaker or decorator, but his father, who owned a cabinetmaker's workshop in rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine, introduced him to woodworking from an early age. He teaches him more particularly the copying of antique furniture in the Louis XI and Louis XV style. This family training allows him to acquire all the techniques of the trade.
This experience, forged with his father coupled with his passion for the works of the great masters will very quickly make him a great technician in cabinetmaking.
Encouraged by the architect-decorator Pierre Chareau who very quickly noticed his talent, Eugène Printz began to create his own creations of modern furniture. But unlike many other modernist designers, he saw furniture as an object of luxury andremains attached to the teaching of his father and to the know-how of the French tradition.
Success and recognition came quickly after his participation in the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in 1925. He therefore received a multitude of interior design orders and became a major figure in furniture at that time.
The Eugène Printz style was born.
These achievements are appreciated all over the world, due to their technical qualities and their refinement. He is not obsessed with the marketing of his work and remains attached to creating unique works or with a few variations of details.
The economic crisis of 1930 and the Second World War forced Eugène Printz to adapt and produce a few limited collections with the use of less noble woods. But these historical events will in no way change the principles he has imposed on himself throughout his career.
Eugène Printz died in 1948 from cancer. He is and will remain the artist-decorator of his time who succeeded with strength and talent in bringing together luxury, elegance and simplicity in a resolutely modern spirit.
