Serge Mouille (1922-1988) was born in Paris to a policeman and a seamstress. They were disappointed when he decided, at age 13, to enter the School of Applied Arts silver workshop. He was such a gifted student of metallurgy and silversmithing that began teaching at age 25. After receiving his degree, he apprenticed under Gabriel Lacroix and then started his own workshop.
In 1953 Mouille introduced a lighting design, the iconic Three-Arm Floor Lamp. The design was the result of his expertise with metals, as well as his knowledge of musculature and skeletons, making the lamp both minimal and organic in form.
In 1956, gallery owner Steph Simon began showing Mouille's work alongside pieces by
Charlotte Perriand,
Isamu Noguchi, and
Jean Prouvé. Having learned of Mouille's work, Hollywood star Henry Fonda literally turned up on the designer's doorstep and refused to leave unless he could have a lamp. Even though the designer did not know who Mr. Fonda was, he relented, and the actor then owned the first Mouille lamp to hit U.S. shores.
In 1962, Mouille introduced his Colonnes Collection, columns of fluorescent light which were not well received. In fact, a potential partnership with Knoll fell through as a result of Florence Knoll's opposition to the design, and Mouille stopped designing lights, returning the the School of Applied Arts to teach silversmithing and to design jewelry.
From dwr.com
All images from sergemouilleusa.com
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| Three-Arm Floor Lamp |
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| Three-Arm Ceiling Lamp |
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| Curved-Arm Rotating Sconce |
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| Saturn Sconce |
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| Snail Ceiling Lamp |
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| Signal Floor Lamp |
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| Totem Floor Lamp |
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