Art Deco Portrait of a Nude Woman, Oil on Board, Compagnie des Arts Français

A striking Art Deco period oil portrait depicting a bare-shouldered young woman with bobbed, center-parted hair rendered in soft golden tones, set against a warm, textured brown and taupe ground. Painted with confident, painterly brushwork typical of the era's figurative style, the composition balances a frank, modern sensibility with the classicizing calm of the sitter's gaze — a hallmark of French portraiture from the interwar years. The work is signed with a monogram at lower right.
France, circa 1920s–1930s, Compagnie des Arts Français (Louis Süe & André Mare) label to verso

Of particular note is the original label affixed to the reverse of the panel, reading "Compagnie des Arts Français, Société Anonyme au Capital de 600.000 francs, Direction Louis Süe & André Mare, 116 Faub. St-Honoré." This identifies the piece as having passed through, or been framed and sold by, the legendary Parisian decorating house La Compagnie des Arts Français — founded in 1919 by architect Louis Süe and painter-designer André Mare, whose atelier was among the most influential forces in defining French Art Deco style, furnishing everything from grand ocean liners to private hôtels particuliers before the firm's dissolution in 1928. The label lends important provenance and places the painting squarely within the milieu of high Parisian Deco taste.

Presented in its period giltwood frame with a cream fabric-covered slip mat, retaining an old inventory number ("10") and partial pricing notation in red on the reverse of the panel.
Compagnie des Arts Français (Louis Süe & André Mare)
French, active 1919–1928

La Compagnie des Arts Français was founded in Paris in 1919 by architect Louis Süe (1875–1968) and painter-designer André Mare (1885–1932), uniting their individual ateliers into one of the most influential decorating houses of the French Art Deco era.

Süe brought a classically trained architect's eye for proportion and structure, while Mare — a former associate of the Cubist circle and co-creator of the pre-war "Maison Cubiste" installation — contributed a rich, painterly sense of ornament and color. Together, operating from their showroom at 116, Faubourg Saint-Honoré, they built CAF into a full-service ensemblier practice, designing complete interiors down to the smallest detail: furniture, textiles, wallpaper, lighting, ceramics, and fine art selection, executed by a stable of skilled artisans working under their direction.

Their signature style fused traditional French classicism — drawing on Louis XVI and Directoire forms — with the geometric simplification and material luxury of the emerging modern movement, favoring exotic woods, bronze, and marble over historicist excess. This approach, often called "Style Süe et Mare," helped define the visual language that would come to be known as Art Deco.

CAF's reputation was cemented through prestigious commissions, including interiors for French ocean liners and private Parisian hôtels particuliers, and through their celebrated pavilion at the landmark 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes — the exhibition from which "Art Deco" takes its name.

The firm dissolved in 1928. Süe went on to a distinguished independent career as an architect and designer; Mare returned to painting until his death in 1932. Today, works and interiors bearing the Compagnie des Arts Français label are prized by collectors as touchstones of the golden age of French decorative arts.