Louis Majorelle (1859 –1926), the son of a furniture designer and manufacturer, was a decorator and one of the outstanding furniture designers iof the Art Nouveau era. Successful in the production of historical revival furniture in the 1880s, it was not until the 1890s that Majorelle began to create pieces inspired by nature, with fluid lines, graceful inlays of blossoms and branches, and harmonious, custom-made hardware. At the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Majorelle's designs triumphed and became an international sensation. By 1910, the designer had opened salesrooms in Nancy, Paris, Lyon, and Lille. While Majorelle tried to continue production during the war, his factories were destroyed in a fire unrelated to battle and his shop was destroyed one year later by a German bomb. After the war, he reopened the factory and his shop, and continued to collaborate with the Daum glassworks. Majorelle died in Nancy in 1926.
