Marc's Czechs. (Marc Desplaines of Antoine Proulx)
From: Interior Design Date: August 1, 1997

Antoine Proulx's Marc Desplaines has created a new line of furnitures called the Czech Series which is inspired by the Czech Cubists that became the focus of a Cooper Hewitt show. Desplaines' used the inverted pyramid shape in designing his tables. The angles and cubes are also evident in the design of his BD 45 bed, the JM 69 vanity and the ET 44 bedside table. The highly inspiring Czech cubes became quite popular from 1910 to 1920.

Inspired by a show at the Cooper Hewitt on the Czech Cubists, Marc Desplaines of Antoine Proulx has created his own Czech Series. Attracted to the wonderful forms from this period (running from 1910 to 1920), but puzzled by some of the proportions, Desplaines toyed with the popular-to-the-period upside down pyramid form to create a series of tables. For example, CT 49 has chunky legs that angle from both the front and side and then bow out at the knees to reverse the pyramid. "The Czech movement was all about surface planes; they didn't seem to be concerned with volumes of space," remarks Desplaines. "There were always a lot of energetic angles on the facades, but often the forms weren't carried out to the interior. I have taken these shapes and angles and used them to carve out space, and I have also created proportions appropriate to current day function."

The angles on the headboard of BD 45 provide an embracing backrest. The opposing angles are echoed in the footboard. Nightstands carry through similar angles. There is also a complementary vanity with pivoting mirror and angled fronts exhibiting decidedly Deco overtones.