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RESEARCH / AR SEIZ BREUR
Paul Fouillen — portrait historique, monographie de 1999 — Droits réservés
Paul Fouillen at work, 1955 · 1999 monograph, p. 122.
All rights reserved.
1899–1958 · BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY

PAUL FOUILLEN

The furniture of Quimper: demountable forms, pyrography and painting wood.

Paul Fouillen (Lorient, 1899 – Quimper, 1958) developed a body of work encompassing furniture, decorated wood and earthenware.

After attending the Beaux-Arts in Rennes, the 1999 monograph places his entry into the Grande Maison HB in Quimper in 1922 (p. 10).

He soon ran a decoration workshop there.

His Breton characters with angular features give his work a recognizable expression.

Paul Fouillen — fauteuil — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — armchair — DIZAGN Collection.

A workshop at Styvel

In 1929, he and his brother-in-law Hervé Patérour set up a workshop in Styvel, in the Locmaria district.

Patérour is a wood turner: this collaboration reminds us how much furniture results from shared work.

The workshop produces furniture and numerous objects in pyrography and painted wood.

Boxes, cases and small accessories make up a significant part of its production.

According to the Breton departmental museum, the carpentry workshop operated until around 1937.

Fouillen also designs furniture that can be disassembled.

These practical solutions contribute to the search for Breton furniture adapted to 20th-century uses.

However, its sets remain attached to genre scenes, even as construction and use evolve.

Paul Fouillen — meuble à deux portes — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — two-door cabinet — DIZAGN Collection.
Paul Fouillen — meuble haut — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — tall cabinet — DIZAGN Collection.
Paul Fouillen — coffret — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — boxed set — DIZAGN Collection.
Paul Fouillen — coffre peint — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — painted chest — DIZAGN Collection.
Paul Fouillen, brevet pour un procédé de décoration et son produit, 1933. Monographie de 1999, p. 66–67.
Paul Fouillen, patent for a decoration process and its product, 1933. Monograph of 1999, p. 66–67. All rights reserved.

The 1933 patent relates to a decorating process and the resulting product. It documents Fouillen's research on decoration; it is not sufficient to establish a patent relating to furniture assembly.

Paul Fouillen travaillant à un pot anthropomorphe en 1955
Paul Fouillen working on an anthropomorphic pot, 1955. Monograph of 1999, p. 122; document provided. All rights reserved.

The transition to workshop-style earthenware

In 1945, Fouillen installed a ceramic kiln at Styvel.

It is therefore necessary to distinguish between the decorations created within the framework of the HB factory and the production of his own workshop.

The signature, trademarks, technique and provenance become decisive in situating a piece.

This distinction is particularly important for a work produced between the 1920s and the 1950s.

Fouillen and the Seiz Breur

His furniture contributed to the modernization of Breton decorative arts, in the same vein as several artists in the group.

However, the sources consulted are not sufficient to establish his formal membership in the Seiz Breur.

This aesthetic and historical proximity should not be confused with a proven adherence.

Paul Fouillen — guéridon — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — pedestal table — DIZAGN Collection.
Paul Fouillen — plateau du guéridon — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — pedestal tabletop — DIZAGN Collection.

Compare the parts

The Breton departmental museum notably preserves an armchair and several earthenware pieces from Fouillen.

These works offer more reliable comparisons than the mere resemblance of a motif or silhouette.

Variations in decoration and manufacturing must be linked to a specific period and workshop.

Paul Fouillen — détail sculpté — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — sculpted detail — DIZAGN Collection.
Paul Fouillen — détail décoratif — Collection DIZAGN.
Paul Fouillen — decorative detail — DIZAGN Collection.
PAUL FOUILLEN, œuvre ou document de référence
Paul Fouillen, armchair, 1929–1937. Musée départemental breton, inv. 1987.2.1. All rights reserved. Notice.

Key Dates

  • 1899 — Born in Lorient.
  • 1922 — Entry into the Grande Maison HB in Quimper, according to the 1999 monograph.
  • 1929 — Creation of the Styvel workshop with Hervé Patérour.
  • Around 1937 — End of the carpentry activity of the workshop.
  • 1945 — Installation of a ceramic kiln at Styvel.
  • 1958 — Death in Quimper.

Sources

Breton departmental museum, armchair and biography Fouillen.

Quimper Faience Museum, history of the workshops.

BIBLIOGRAPHYLIBRARY

Couverture : Paul Fouillen : les années HB Quimper (1922–1928)

Paul Fouillen: The HB Quimper Years (1922–1928)

Tony Graviano
2018 · Bilingual French-English edition · 224 p.

Study of the HB period and the ceramic production of Paul Fouillen.

Reference ↗
Couverture : Quimper Cornouaille. Années 1920/1930

Quimper Cornouaille. 1920s/1930s

Philippe Le Stum (dir.)
Palantines, Quimper · 2010 · 173 p.

Catalogue dedicated to Art Deco in Cornwall: furniture, ceramics and visual arts.

Reference ↗
  • Daniel Le Couédic and Jean-Yves Veillard (eds.), Ar Seiz Breur 1923–1947. Breton creation between tradition and modernity, Terre de Brume / Musée de Bretagne, Rennes, 2000.
  • Philippe Théallet (research and text), Christian Sévère (photographs and graphic design), Paul Fouillen 1899–1958, Les Amis de Paul Fouillen, Quimper, July 1999; Maurice Fouillen, managing editor. ISBN 2-9514128-0-0.
  • Philippe Le Stum, «Paul Fouillen», in Quimper. Three centuries of earthenware, catalogue, 1990.
  • Pascal Aumasson, Seiz Breur. For a modern art in Brittany, Locus Solus, 2023.
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