September 2000 Maxime Old , New Interest In A Midcentury French Master by Mitchell Owens "We didn't want to have the traditional Deco pieces that everyone in New York had been buying,"Frank Rogin says of the inventory at his Soho furniture store,which has drawn in Naomi Leff,Victoria Hagan and Harry Schnaper."Although much of what we have is from the 1920s,'30s and '40s,it would be better called French modernist."He shows the major names,such as Jacques Adnet,alongside lesserknown masters:Francis Jourdain,Maurice Dufrene,Andre' Sornay and Maxime Old.Rogin also prefers architects designs,and the sources vary from de Stijl to postwar Italian (Gio Ponti is a favorite)."I'm most interested in what was produced by the avant-garde movements,"he says,"Frank's approach is academic,"Shnaper notes,"yet he's elevated this furniture to art." | | |