Olmer, Pierre. L'Art Decoratif Francais en 1928 (Paris : Societe´ artistique de publications techniques, [1928]) Original wrappers. 64pp.+Table of Contents and numerous ads.; and Olmer, Pierre and Henri Bouche-Leclercq. L’Art Decoratif Francais en 1929 (Paris: Societe´ artistique de publications techniques, [1930] 64pp.+ Table of contents and ads. Both volumes 9.5 x 12”, both profusely illustrated with hundreds of striking black-and-white photographs, the first volume also having two exquisite full-page color plates. Covers detached, but present, the second tattered and torn.
As Olmer was an architect (as well as a painter and Professor of Art) many of the pictures capture full rooms of breathtaking Art Deco design at the height of the French genre after the 1925 Exposition, though there are also close-ups of metal work, tapestry, posters, sculpture etc. Among the master artists whose work is displayed: Adnet, Bonfils, Brandt, Dubuisson, Dufrene, Edy-Legrand, Follot, Guillemard, Herbst, Kohlmann, Auguste Matisse, Poiret, Puiforcat and Ruhlmann, Both volumes are scarce but the 1928 issue is particularly so, WorldCat showing only four American holdings, including the Getty Institute and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Three years ago, the Chateau de Gourdon copy sold at Christie’s Paris for $625. A treasure trove for the Art Deco enthusiast.