Franz Waldraff (1878-1942?). Landscape near Toulone, Gorges d'Ollioules. Circa 1930

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Franz Waldraff (1878-1942?). Landscape near Toulone, Gorges d'Ollioules. Circa 1930

The landscape of the Gorges d'Ollioules, near Toulon.
 
Signed lower left J Waldraff.
Painting from around 1930, created by the artist born in Germany, but mainly active in France.
Designer known for his design of furniture, interiors and Art Deco objects for Clément Mère.
Born in Germany in 1878, Waldraff studied in Düsseldorf before moving to Paris in 1902. He exhibited at the Salons between 1903 and 1909, and at the Salons of the Society of Decorative Artists between 1910 and 1914.
At the La Maison Moderne gallery he  met the French draftsman and painter-decorator Clément Mère (1861-1940), and the two artists quickly began to work in partnership.  
Mère produced furniture and objects in wood, ivory, and precious metals after Waldraff's designs or decorated by him;  several collaborative pieces are now in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.  Waldraff also designed silk brocades which were made in Lyon for several Parisian fashion houses, as well as book illustrations, stained glass designs and decorations for a mansion on the Champ de Mars in Paris.
Among his designs are many decorative motifs, as well as watercolors by and inspired by the dancer Isadora Duncan.  Waldraff later settled in Menton in southern France