RENÉ PROU (1889-1947) - Lot 381

RENÉ PROU (1889-1947) COMPAGNIE INTERNATIONALE DES WAGONS - CAR COMPARTMENT RECTANGULAR PANEL BEDS - TYPE S FIRST CLASS BEDS Cuba mahogany veneered wood, decorated with octagonal marquetry of flowers and polychrome leaves. 1926. On the reverse, stencilled no (illegible), painted inscription: D.1 - 8, felt-tip pen inscription: 6/1B - 6. 93.5 x 40.2 cm. Later framed with a Sapelli wood rod. BIBLIOGRAPHY. . Luxury trains, Splendour, elegance & extravagance, ACC Art Books UK, 2023, similar copy p. 145. . Legendäre Luxuszüge - 24 stilvolle Traumreisen, Frederking & Thaler, 2023, similar copy p. 145. . La folie des trains de luxe, Éditions EPA - Hachette, Paris 2022, a similar copy on p. 145. . Treni fra arte, grafica e design, M.A.X. Museo, Chiasso, Switzerland, Skira, 2021. . Lucinda Gosling, Holidays and high society, the golden age of travel, 2019. . Anne Bony, René Prou, entre Art Déco et Modernisme, Norma Editions, Paris, 2018. . Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla, L'Orient-Express, un siècle d'aventures ferroviaires, Denoël, 1984. . Jean des Cars, Jean-Paul Caracalla, Le Train Bleu et les Grands Express de la Riviera, Denoël, 1988. This marquetry, designed by René Prou, decorated the S-type sleeping cars used on the Orient-Express, Calais-Méditerranée-Express (Train Bleu), Paris Rome Express and other prestige CIWL trains in the 1920s-1930s. RENÉ PROU René Prou, a famous decorator of the early 20th century, left an important mark on the decorative arts related to the art of travel. In particular, he contributed to the decoration of hotels all over the world. From 1919 onwards, he was involved in fitting out the liner Paris and, throughout the 20s, the Volubilis, Roussillon, Cuba and Florida liners. He was entrusted with the entire design of the De Grasse liner, whose dining room was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in 1924. In 1927, he participated in the design of the liner Ile de France, alongside some of the most famous names of his time, such as Ruhlmann and Leleu, testifying to his renown and the quality of his creations. His work on liners continued with the complete outfitting of the Lafayette, Côte d'Azur and Colombie, and his participation in the Atlantic shipyard. His talent was further deployed when he took up one of the challenges posed by the development of the railroads: to fit out the small space of a train carriage luxuriously and with maximum comfort. In 1922, he began a long and fruitful collaboration with the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, which developed the most famous international trains, such as the Orient-Express, the Train Bleu and the Flèche d'Or. He fitted out more than 280 passenger cars, including sleeping cars, the most remarkable of which are the 90 LX-type cars with private compartments for a single passenger. René Prou also teamed up with master glassmaker René Lalique in 1928 to decorate 14 Pullman saloon cars, which came out in 1929, marking the apogee of luxury rail travel with his creations. Panels like the ones shown here were mounted above the beds in the cabins of the first metal carriages to run on the Orient-Express, the Train Bleu and all the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits luxury express trains. These carriages were inaugurated in December 1922 on platform no. 1 of the Gare de Lyon to Nice and the Côte d'Azur. Previously, the cars were made of teak wood. For the occasion, the cars were decked out in the night-blue livery with gold highlights that gave the Train Bleu its name. Calais-Méditerranée-Express. The panels we present are from a Type S sleeper on the Orient Express, from 1922 to 1926.