Andrée Putman’s Signature Aesthetics Are on Display in France

“We should seek out ambitious, even unrealistic projects, because things only happen when we dream.” Those salient words were famously proclaimed by the late legend, Andrée Putman. The interior and industrial designer’s contribution to the Modernist movement coupled with the 10th anniversary of her passing has resulted in a comprehensive exhibition titled “Andrée Putman and the Creators of the Mouvement Moderne” at the Fondation CAB Saint-Paul-de-Vence in her native France. The show’s compendium of furniture, photographs, personal effects, and archive materials showcase her signature monochrome graphics and streamlined aesthetic. Particularly noteworthy is the reconstruction of one of Putman’s most iconic interiors: the checkered bathroom she designed for the Morgans Hotel in New York, which is considered to be the first ever boutique property. Daughter Olivia Putman, who has run her mother’s studio since 2013, lent many of the private objects and conceived the exhibit’s scenography.