A dining room suite and a drawing room suite, designed by the talented Belgian architect Jacques Dupuis (1914-1984), were purchased by the Léon Courtin – Marcelle Bouché Fund in 2011 and entrusted to the Grand Curtius in Liege. This total of fifteen unique pieces of furniture has enabled the museum to present a significant ensemble of 1950s furniture.
Post-World War II design
Commissioned in 1951 by Mr and Mrs Dumont, this furniture is typical of post-World War II design, a period marked by experimentation and questioning of modernity. The shapes remain conventional, but a number of targeted stylistic adaptations give the furniture a contemporary profile. The matching sideboard, tables and chairs are a good example: the clean, dynamic lines, the pointed edges of the arms of the chairs confer a feeling of modernity to this furniture. Jacques Dupuis also surprised by the amusing form he gave to the assembly elements of his furniture. Such is the case for the wooden stars he used on the feet of the chairs for instance. He asked his friend Zéphir Busine (1916-1976) to create the painted décor of the sideboard and coffee table.
Key figure
Jacques Dupuis was born in Quaregnon, in 1914, and is one of the key figures of post-war Belgian architecture. His work includes the house Le Parador, in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, the Dumont house in Braine-le-Comte and the de Landsheere house in Sint-Marthens-Laethem. Several of the buildings he designed are now listed buildings. Website Le Grand CurtiusFurther information about the Léon Courtin-Marcelle Bouché Fund (in French)
