Serge Mouille

Lighting

About

Serge Mouille (1922–1988) was born in Paris on Christmas Eve, the youngest of three children. His father was a policeman and his mother a seamstress. As a boy, the Mouille family would spend holidays on his grandparents' farm, where his fascination for nature began. He spent countless hours at the Jardin des Plantes drawing plants and animals — the network of veins in a leaf, the way shells grow, and the joints and anatomy of animal skeletons would later become the hallmark of his creations.

On the advice of his drawing teacher, Mouille entered the admissions exam at the École des Arts Appliqués in Paris. Without even telling his parents, he passed and became the youngest pupil of the school. There he studied metallurgy and silversmithing under the renowned sculptor Gabriel René Lacroix.

At the age of 22, Mouille became a teacher at the same school and opened his own metalworking studio. In 1953, Jacques Adnet hired him to design lighting fixtures — an art to which he devoted the rest of his life. He designed large, angular, insect-like wall-mounted and standing lamps with several arms, working to achieve a kinetic, sculptural aesthetic that evoked a sense of movement in space. His designs were shown mainly at the Steph Simon Gallery in Paris.

In 1955, he became a member of the Society of Decorative Artists and of the French National Art Society, receiving the Charles Plumet prize for his work. In 1958, he received a Diploma of Honour at the Brussels Expo. Mouille passed away on his 66th birthday in 1988. In 1999, his widow Gin Mouille and Claude Delpiroux began producing the lamps using all original measurements and materials, with the assistance of Fred Barnley, one of Mouille's early students. Today, around 1,500 pieces are produced yearly by Les Éditions Serge Mouille.

Curators' Picks

Library Ceiling Lamp

Ceiling Lamp 3 Arms

Ceiling Lamp 2 Arms