Artist André Domin (1883-1962) and architect Marcel Genevrière (1885-1967) founded Dominique in 1922 with the goal of creating something completely new and modern. Their participation in the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes—notably their work on the private apartments for “une ambassade francaise”—launched them on the fine design stage. From 1926 they formed and would exhibit regularly under “le Groupe de Cinq” (the Group of Five), along with goldsmith Jean Puiforcat, architect Pierre Chareau, designer Pierre Legrain, and the jeweler Raymon Templier. Their creations, simple and elegant, are considered some of the most important and quintessential Art Deco designs for historians and collectors today. During this period, Dominique’s furniture and designs fluidly mixed curves and angled panels, metal and wood, and fit flawlessly in their respective interiors. Their affinity for sharp angles and geometric form owed much to their study of Cubist painting. Preferring the sumptuous and exotic materials popular in the Art Deco Movement, their designs often made use of palissandre, macassar, ebony, and sycamore as well as silk, velour, and leather. Constantly in search of the “new,” in the 1930s, Dominique added the synthetic fabrics duvetine, artificial silk, Rodhia canvas, and silvered and ultramarine Tricotene to its design repertoire. In this decade one notices their heightened interest in larger volumes, a more abundant use of fabric, and Orientalism. 1933 marked the beginning of their collaboration with the Compagnie générale translatlantique and their work on several paquebots: in 1962, for instance, they would furnish the Debussy music salon and the luxury apartments of Le Normandie. In addition, Dominique collaborated with the Mobilier National, and was notably in charge of décor and furnishing for the Salon des paysages at the Palais de l’Elysée. Dominique had its own pavilion at the Exposition de Bruxelles in 1935. At the Exposition des Arts et Techniques in Paris in 1937 they participated in the decoration of the pavilions of the Marine Marchande, of the Normandie, and l’Architecture privée as well as a music salon and a student’s room in the pavillon des Artistes Décorateurs. They regularly exhibited there as well as the equally esteemed Salon d’Automne. Throughout their career, Domin and Genevrière regularly revisited their Art Deco origins, utilizing sumptuous materials and elegant finishes, often in novel forms. In 1953, André’s son Alain Domin took creative charge of this iconic company.

References:

Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier du XXe siècle: Dictionnaire des créateurs. Paris: Editions de l’amateur, 171-8.

Yolande Amic, Le Mobilier Français 1945-1964. Paris: Ed. du Regard, 1983, 18-21.

Félix Marcilhac, Dominique: Décorateur-Ensemblier du XXe Siècle (Paris: Amateur, 2008).

Bruno Foucart and Jean-Louis Gaillemin, Les Décorateurs des années 40 (Paris: Norma, 1998), 58-9, 98-103.

Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Furniture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1984, 46.