Roger Fatus conference room produced by the Atelier de Recherche et de Création of the Mobilier national. Presented at the 45th Salon des Artistes Décorateurs (S.A.D.) 1967. Wall composition by Michel Carrade, sculpture by Coran, and ceiling by Véronique Massenet. © André Gardé.
Tribute to Roger Fatus and Desi Pessina
By Stephane Danant
I met Roger Fatus in February 2006, almost twenty years ago. He came to visit the exhibition design for the Rene -Jean Caillette sale that I had organized at Tajan in Paris with Patrick Favardin and Jean-Jacques Wattel. He was accompanied by Joseph-Andre Motte, his daughter Catherine, and Dirk Jan Rol. It was my first time meeting them. I distinctly remember being surprised by the youthful appearance of Roger Fatus and Dirk Jan Rol, two tall men who must already have been around 80 years old at the time. I also remember their simplicity and kindness. We all visited the exhibition together, and as we climbed the stairs to the upper floor, Fatus turned around and, after glancing at the room below, where a hundred pieces of French design from the 1950s to the 1970s were on display, he said to me, “How poor French design was at that time!” The remark slightly offended me and, above all, surprised me. It took me several years to fully grasp its insight.
Following this meeting, Roger Fatus invited me to visit him at his home in Paris’s 14th arrondissement, on the 8th floor of a 1970s building overlooking Parc Montsouris. I was also struck by the clarity of his interior, not so much by the light that filled it, but by the orderly arrangement of pared-down furniture, undisturbed by any decorative elements, and by the near-total absence of color, with white being omnipresent. The only colors came from a few paintings by Desi Pessina, Roger Fatus’s wife, whom I met that day. We discussed his career. He showed me a selection of documents relating to his most significant works. At the time, I knew relatively little about Fatus’s work. I had limited information about the furniture he had designed and even less about his work as an interior architect. I was therefore beginning to learn about him, thanks to him.
We met again two years later during the preparation of the exhibition Mobi Boom at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs (MAD) in Paris, which was scheduled to open in September 2010. The gallery participated in this exhibition by lending numerous pieces of furniture by several French designers it represented, including the loan of a particularly rare chair by Roger Fatus, which he had created in 1968 for the Drugstore Publicis in Paris. We were also asked to finance and organize an interview with Roger Fatus, which was to be included on a DVD accompanying the exhibition catalogue. Preparing this interview provided an opportunity to return to Roger Fatus’s home, to continue our discussions and to learn more. Over time, Roger helped me locate and acquire several of his creations that belonged to relatives or former clients with whom he had remained in contact.
I have always considered the conference table created by Roger Fatus in 1967 for the Mobilier national to be one of the most important pieces of furniture produced in France at the end of the 1960s. I knew that it had never been put into production at the time and that, apart from the prototype held in the Mobilier national collections and one, or perhaps two examples made to order, this model could not be found. It existed only through photographic reproductions published in the press of the period and in the few exhibition catalogues devoted to the creations of the Research and Creation Workshop of the Mobilier national. Without hesitation, in the context of discussions concerning a future collaboration with the Mobilier national, I proposed this model to Loic Turpin as a candidate for a contemporary edition. I do not speak of a reissue, since this table was never produced, but of the 1967-2025 Edition.
It was thanks to this new project that I once again found my way to Parc Montsouris and to the bright apartment of Roger and Desi. Time had passed, and I found my friends older, yet still as sharp and enthusiastic about this new adventure, which would give a second life to this model.
Sadly, Desi passed away last spring, and Roger in September, just one week before the launch of the collection at the Mobilier national.
I dedicate this project, this new edition, and this catalogue to them.
Stephane Danant on December 16, 2025