Born in Sèvres on March 1879, Jeanne Juliette Marie Bérangère Lassudrie came from a bourgeois family and lived near Notre-Dame, where she stayed for her entire life. Early on, she changed the spelling of her first name, replacing the A in Bérangère with an E. Paule Bayle from the journal La vie féminine recognised her emancipated character as early as 1914 and described her as an independent woman of the time, a true fashion icon.
Although she was initially identified as a sculptor, it was in painting and the decorative arts that her talent came to the fore. In 1914, the Galerie d'Astorg organised her first solo exhibition, in which the artist presented some forty works, mainly paintings, pastels, painted objects and a few sculptures. Critics praised her highly decorative compositions and exuberant colour palette, representative of the nascent Art Deco movement.
By 1920, she was exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne. She designed the poster for the latter and moved away from sculpture to focus on decorative arts.
In 1922, she also designed a fabric pattern for the Maîtrise des Galeries Lafayette.
Bérengère Lassudrie played an active role in the rise of modern tapestry.
In 1922, she exhibited her designs at the Salon des Artistes Français in the Grand Palais.
That same year, she was invited to the École Nationale d'Art Décoratif d'Aubusson, where she began her collaboration with Braquenié and produced flat-weave tapestries.
Three of her flat-weave tapestries were produced there and later shown at the Musée Galliera. The Maison Pierre Frey is fortunate to preserve the full project, from preparatory drawings to woven tapestries, kept safe from light and still vibrant. The designs are rich with floral patterns and bold, harmonious colors, reds, blues, and yellows, that capture the spirit of the Roaring Twenties and pure Art Deco style.
Bérengère Lassudrie's work was frequently cited at various exhibitions, and she won a silver medal at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.
The artist tragically passed away in May 1927, after a sudden concussion. Her death marked the end of a promising career dedicated to the decorative renaissance of the interwar years.
