French interior designer known for minimalist interiors decorated with plain-lined but sumptuous furniture made of luxury materials, such as shagreen, mica, and intricate straw marquetry. Jean-Michel Frank today is recognized by leading designers the world over as one of the greatest sources of inspiration to many present-day designs. His pieces are highly sought after by leading collectors worldwide. French designers refer to “le style Frank.”
A unique collection of home furniture designed by Frank for Hermès in 1924 is considered a classic set of minimalist homeware. The iconic designs – including a sheepskin club chair and parchment-covered dressing table – hold an enduring popularity, and Hermès rereleased many of the items to great fanfare in early 2011.
During the 1930s Frank worked with students at the Paris Atelier, now known as Parsons Paris School of Art and Design, where he developed the famous Parsons Table. In 1932, with Parisian decorator Adolphe Chanaux, he opened a shop at #140 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. This was to be the consecration of ten years of collaboration, when he decorated for the Rockefellers and Guerlains. He designed Nelson Rockefeller’s lavish Fifth Avenue apartment in New York in 1937.
During the winter of 1939-40, he left France for Argentina where he worked with his old friend and business associate Ignacio Pirovano on several important private and commercial projects.
In 1941, Frank made a trip to New York. Sadly overcome by depression he committed suicide by throwing himself from the window of a Manhattan apartment building on 8 March, leaving all his personal possessions in his apartment in Buenos Aires.
He was a first cousin of Otto Frank and, therefore, a first cousin, once removed, of the diarist Anne Frank.
Link to Wikipedia biography