CHARLOTTE CHAUCHET-GUILLERÉ

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Charlotte Stéphanie Henriette Chauchet was born in December 1878 in Charleville (Ardennes) to Léon Prosper Chauchet, brewer, then aged 22, born in Raucourt (Ardennes) and Louise Amélie Henriette Michon, 19 years old, his wife.

After studying in the Ardennes, she continued in Paris, benefiting in particular from the teachings of Benjamin Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens. She started out as a painter and her paintings were admitted to several salons, thus exhibiting at the Salon of French Artists, or even at the Exhibition of Women Painters and Sculptors. one of her paintings, "Tide", was presented at the Salon of French Artists, she received an Honorable Mention in 1901, a medal in 1902, and a Travel Grant in 1904. The French State acquired three of his works in 1901, 1904 and 1906: Kitchen Interior, Intimacy and Little Girl with an Apple. The Charleville museum also selected her and acquired four paintings for its collections.

On March 17, 1906, in Paris, she married a lawyer, René Guilleré, lover of art and music, collector of traditional African art, poet, playwright, contributor to various magazines, and founding member, in 1901, of the Society of Decorative Artists (S.A.D.) of which he is general secretary. They built a residence in bricks and slates, with an unostentatious but nevertheless singular and elegant facade, at 13 rue Eugénie Gérard in Vincennes. While continuing her activity as a painter, Charlotte Chauchet-Guilleré became an active member of this society. She exhibited decorative panels at the Salon d'Automne from 1910 to 1913, and at the Salon des Indépendants from 1911 to 19133. She was asked at the same time by Hector Guimard to create a fresco in the dining room of the Mezzara hotel (1910-1911).

From 1909, she was entrusted by the management of Printemps, a decorative art department in these department stores. In January 1913, still within Printemps, she created a new structure, Primavera, still dedicated to furniture and decorative arts. These are art workshops, with manufacturing locations in the suburbs and in the provinces in addition to the solicitation of artisans, exclusive models, creators and a specific exhibition space in store. Working with wood, fabrics, glass, paper and ceramics. Ceramic objects that met with rapid success. This Primavera structure distributes modern furniture and decorative objects to the general public, erasing the barriers between art, crafts and mass distribution. At a time when critics still shunned Cubism and its masters, Juan Gris, Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, René Guilleré and Charlotte Chauchet-Guilleré were inspired by their works, then drew on other sources of inspiration when the furniture geometric designs are invading the market. Their collections are part of the Art Deco movement. René Guilleré is the first director of Primavera. Charlotte Chauchet-Guilleré was its artistic director from 1922 to 1937. The other department stores copied the formula: thus, Galeries Lafayette asked Maurice Dufrêne to manage the Maîtrise, and Paul Follot hosted Ponome at Bon Marché.

In 1931, René Guilleré died. One of the great furniture designers of the Primavera team, Louis Sognot, seconded Charlotte Chauchet-Guilleré who was in charge of Primavera until 1937, then retired. She died on March 13, 1964 in Paris.