Retail, Robert Bély (1920s)

Artist/Designer: Pierre Patout

Project Location: Paris, France

Figure 1: Store interior, Robert Bély department store, Pierre Patout, Paris, France, 1927. ( Source | Accessed : October 21, 2018 | Photographer: Thérèse Bonney )

Figure 2: Store Interior, Robert Bély department store, Pierre Patout, Paris, France, 1927. ( Source | Accessed : October 21, 2018 | Photographer: Thérèse Bonney )

Figure 3: Perfume Department, Robert Bély department store, Pierre Patout, Paris, France, 1927. ( Source | Accessed : October 21, 2018 | Photographer: Thérèse Bonney )

Figure 4: Staircase, Robert Bély department store, Pierre Patout, Paris, France, 1927. ( Source | Accessed : October 21, 2018 | Photographer: Thérèse Bonney )

Figure 5: Staircase, Robert Bély department store, Pierre Patout, Paris, France, 1927. ( Source | Accessed : October 21, 2018 | Photographer: Thérèse Bonney )

Figure 6: Shoe Department, Robert Bély department store, Pierre Patout, Paris, France, 1927. ( Source | Accessed : October 21, 2018 | Photographer: Thérèse Bonney )

Figure 7: Lingerie Department, Robert Bély department store, Pierre Patout, Paris, France, 1927. ( Source | Accessed : October 21, 2018 | Photographer: Thérèse Bonney )

Style/Period(s):
Art Deco, Modern

Primary Material(s):
Glass, Metal, Rubber

Function(s):
Retail Store

Related Website(s):

Smithsonian Libraries | Accessed : October 21, 2018

Pierre Patout Artnet | Accessed : October 21, 2018

The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Accessed : October 21, 2018

Significant Date(s):
20th Century, 1920-1929, 1927

Additional Information:
Project Description:
The Robert Bély department store, designed by Pierre Patout (1879-1965), exemplified the modern materials and construction of its time. As seen in the photos, the focal point of the store was a wrought-iron staircase. Fixtures, woodwork, and counters were all in black and the walls were painted beige. The floors were done in a light gray slate and blue rubber and above everything was a luminous glass ceiling.

Publications/Texts in Print:
D'Souza, Aruna. The Invisible Flâneuse?: Gender, Public space and Visual Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006.

Masset, Claire. Department Stores. London: Shire Publications, 2010.

Miller, Michael. The Bon Marche : Bourgeois Culture and the Department Store, 1869-1920. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014.

Building Location:
45 Rue des Matherins and Boulevard Haussmann
Paris, France

Significant Dates:
N/A

Supporting Staff/Designers:
N/A

Tags:
art deco, modern, department store, paris, france, Robert Bely department store, pierre patout, therese bonney

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