During her stay in Algeria, Marie paid close attention to the young Algerian tapestry weavers. She was struck by the magnificent workmanship these women exhibited, but disliked the often mediocre subject matter. She now began to conceive her own projects, and married Paul Cuttoli, who at that point had been elected Senator. It was the year 1920. Under her influence, Cuttoli, who was also the mayor of Philippeville, commissioned the construction of the Artisanat, a technical training school where young Algerian women could perfect the art of weaving in a more organized, methodical, and artistic manner.
Swept up in the unique atmosphere of those permissive, gay, flamboyant years, Marie decided to open a shop in Paris, with a logo designed by Natalia Goncharova, who would continue to collaborate with Marie for several years. Thus, in 1920 she opened a haute couture shop on rue Vignon; she had her dresses embroidered in Algeria. Her design house, Myrbor, had a hard time catching on in the Paris of the roaring twenties. However, she received positive reactions, and her designs were soon praised by the press when one of them appeared in the October 1922 issue of Vogue. She then took the bold step of having tapestries made in Algeria with simple designs in sober, harmonious color schemes that were naturally attuned to the modern architecture that was gradually gaining ground. She set up a workshop in Sétif and her visits to galleries gave her the idea of asking contemporary artists to collaborate with her. She turned to Jean Lurçat, whose work she admired, for her first venture. He had already had an initial–somewhat artisanal–experience in tapestry. He loved Marie's idea, as well as her cheerful personality. The first tapestry, woven in Sétif with simple motifs against a solid background, was shown at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs, which featured all the leading names in decorative arts from that period. Marked by the opulence of the 1920s, the exhibition was also the beginning of the style that bore its name: Art Deco.
Maison Myrbor, located in La Madeleine, a neighborhood of couturiers and art dealers, then began to sell its tapestries, all woven in Algeria.
2 / 8
Summary