Louis Sognot was born in Paris on May 25, 1892. After completing his secondary studies, he attended the École Bernard Palissy. Following his military service and the war, he was demobilized in August 1919. In 1920, he joined the Primavera Workshop at the Grands Magasins du Printemps. After the death of René Guilleré, he assumed the direction of the workshop alongside Mrs. Chauchat-Guilleré.
In 1923, he presented furniture produced by Primavera at the Salon d'Automne, and since then, he has regularly exhibited there, as well as at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. From 1930, he participated in the U.A.M. (Union des Artistes Modernes). He received the Grand Prize and a diploma of honor at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, and in 1926, he was awarded the Blumenthal Scholarship. Louis Sognot took part in various major exhibitions, including the Colonial Exhibition in 1931, the International Exhibition in 1937 (where he served as President of the group of Window Dressers at the Palais de la Publicité), and the International Exhibition of Urbanism and Housing in 1947. He received numerous grand prizes, diplomas of honor, and plaquettes from the Société d'Encouragement à l'Art et à l'Industrie. In 1952, he won the 1st Prize for Rattan work at the Salon des Décorateurs.
Louis Sognot had a rich career as an educator as well. He was a decoration professor at the École Boulle since 1926, a former professor at the Collège technique de la rue Duperré, and a professor at the École des Arts Appliqués à l'Industrie since 1938. He was also the head of the workshop at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs since 1947, where he took over the position after the passing of René Prou. Additionally, he served as artistic director at the École de l'Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, replacing René Prou, and was sent on a mission to Canada in 1951. He was a founding member of the U.A.D.C.E. (Union des Artistes Décorateurs, Créateurs, Ensembliers) and a member of the Institut d'Esthétique Industrielle. In 1936, Louis Sognot was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Louis Sognot's body of work, despite its vastness and the diversity of challenges he faced, shows a clear guiding line, a slow and laborious process during which one of the purest expressions of the style of our time was created. He sought originality without indulging in whimsy, remaining faithful to tradition while adapting it to modern life and its multiple demands. Regardless of the materials used—exotic precious woods or rustic French ones, metal, rattan, plastics, or glass tiles—the same sense of proportion and sobriety guided all his designs. His interiors are characterized by furniture with harmonious rhythms and volumes, where the decoration is integrated into the form. Even his simplest solutions have a natural grace, such as chairs with flared backs like sheaves or a bed that is deep and balanced like a hay cart.
In essence, Louis Sognot is inspired by a refined grandeur, fixed to human proportions or determined by usage, regardless of the purpose of his furniture. His vast technical knowledge, love for novelty and tackling difficult, specific problems, and even his audacity are all guided by a sensitivity that subtly underlies his work. He aims to imbue his creations with lasting and human expression, enclosing happiness in the homes for which he designs the arrangement.
