Founded by Cléa Basset and Louis Samperez, Des Esseintes is a decorative arts and design practice advising collectors and interior designers in building collections and sourcing vintage furniture, from Neoclassicism to Art Deco.
Both founders formed this sensibility over years of study in art history, travel across Europe and long hours spent in museums, galleries and salerooms, then refined it through close collaboration with leading Parisian galleries and with a renowned interior designer, before founding the practice to give expression to a shared gaze.
From it comes the precise vocabulary and the deep understanding of the savoir-faire that defines the French decorative canon, which govern every engagement. Its references are drawn from the major figures of European design, from the neoclassical cabinetmakers to the masters of Art Deco, and extend to the production of the twentieth century.
Each project is therefore approached in its singularity, from the reading of the client’s needs to a close understanding of the pieces, their materials and their history. Advising a collector, furnishing an interior, accompanying a fashion house or a cultural institution on its artistic direction: the same gaze governs each of these, and the practice carries the project through from the first conversation to the installation of the project.
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