Louis Majorelle (1859–1926) was a French furniture maker, decorator and metalworker based in Nancy, and one of the leading figures of Art Nouveau design. Trained briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he returned to Nancy after his father’s death to take over the family workshop, shifting its output from historicist pieces to highly original furniture and lighting characterised by sinuous lines, fine marquetry and sculpted bronze mounts.
From the 1890s, Majorelle became a central member of the École de Nancy, serving as a vice-president of the group from its founding in 1901 and exhibiting widely at international exhibitions, including the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. His firm produced complete Art Nouveau interiors, from furniture and metalwork to balconies and stair rails, and later adapted to the more geometric language of early Art Deco. Today, Majorelle’s work is represented in major museum collections, where it is recognised as a benchmark of French Art Nouveau craftsmanship.
