Artist’s workshop

The flat spans 151 m² over two levels. It offers uninterrupted views and spacious accommodation.

It comprises an entrance hall, a magnificent 60 m² living room with 5.4 metre high ceilings and a full-height glass roof, and a fully-equipped dining kitchen with a service door. A dramatic staircase leads to the first floor. This comprises a lounge with a period bar on the mezzanine, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a shower room.

A cellar completes this exceptional property.

In excellent condition, the studio is being sold with some of its original, custom-designed furniture, now listed as part of the Ile de France Heritage.

Located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, the flat overlooks the listed garden of the condominium and the gardens of the Couvent des Sœurs de Cluny.

With its formal simplicity, its luxury and the refinement of its decorative materials, this luxury artist’s studio, which has retained its original furniture and décor, is a remarkable and rare example of the studio flats popular with the enlightened bourgeoisie of the Roaring Twenties.

In the entrance hall, the storage unit, nickel-plated wall sconces and hat stand, and the double-leaf door in black patina metal and chrome tubes leading to the reception area were custom-designed by architect Adrienne Gorska, sister of Tamara de Lempicka. In collaboration with Robert Mallet-Stevens, she also designed an ensemble on the mezzanine comprising a rounded bar and a smoking room with burr-walnut panelling, a built-in secretary, a pair of low armchairs, a bench and a matching coffee table. Decorative architect René Herbst and lighting designer André Salomon created a sculptural ceiling lamp in the living room. Master stained glass artist Louis Barillet created a stained glass window in printed glass, opal glass and mirror set in a black patinated iron frame for the second bedroom (originally used as an office).

This studio is located in the only apartment building built in Paris by Mallet-Stevens. The architect’s vocabulary is clearly visible on the façade: cubic volumes, numerous offsets and smooth surfaces. Awnings, railings and window sills lighten the imposing expression of the large volumes. Particular attention has been paid to the design of the building’s entrances and communal spaces. The stairwell is extremely precious: the entire height of the stairwell is covered by a stained-glass window made of different types of laminated glass in various reliefs by master glassmaker Louis Barillet; the doors and joinery are in mahogany and the banister is in Briare enamel.

Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980), a modern woman of freedom and determination, was an icon of social unrest and the artistic revival between the wars. A Polish exile in Paris, she became Europe’s most sought-after portrait painter. She produced stylised, contrasting Art Deco canvases, with provocative shapes against Cubist backgrounds. The work of this emblematic figure of modern aestheticism, a great inspiration to the worlds of fashion, advertising and graphic design, was the subject of a monographic exhibition at the Musée des années 30 in Boulogne in 2006.

She bought the vast studio, which was up for sale in 1929, and commissioned the architect to decorate it. He designed an Art Deco-style space where the artist could hold large parties. She commissioned her sister Adrienne to design the large reception room. In the double-height studio, the walls were bare except for the artist’s paintings. Tubular steel furniture and screens decorated the vast, uncluttered space.