Madeleine Sougez
1891 – 1945
Madeleine Sougez was a French artist, designer, ceramicist, and sculptor active during the Art Deco period. She left a significant mark on the decorative arts landscape of the interwar period.
Biography
Madeleine Sougez is primarily famous for leading a major section of Atelier Primavera, the art studio of the “Au Printemps” department store in Paris. This studio played a key role in popularizing modern and accessible furniture and art objects.
She was married to Emmanuel Sougez (1889–1972), a major figure in French photography. In fact, the latter began his career as the official photographer for Atelier Primavera and the “Artistes Décorateurs”.
She designed numerous vases, lidded pots, and anthropomorphic or mythological jars, often in collaboration with the C.A.B. (Céramique d’art de Bordeaux) for Primavera. Her pieces featured polychrome glazed earthenware or painted terracotta.
She is also credited with earthenware figurines and statuettes depicting poetic or animal figures, as well as wrought-iron pieces.
Between 1925 and 1935, she distinguished herself by creating designer toys made of carved and brightly painted wood (puppets, circus horses, ballet dancers, and even toys inspired by New York skyscrapers).
