Jean-Paul Viollet Email & Phone Number

Jean-Paul, the leader of Atelier Viollet today, was born with the genes of a woodworker, but the heart of a maverick. Outwardly happy mastering the family business, he still felt persistent tuggings. The first lured him with the infinite (but unplumbed) possibilities of beautiful veneers. The second was his unquenchable fascination with Art Deco.For several years, Jean-Paul travelled the globe, soaking up the arcane lore and intricate techniques that transformed his craft into an art. Then he was ready to establish today's incarnation of his family firm.The Atelier Viollet workshop: a refuge where he and his fellow artisans bring to fruition Jean-Paul’s long-incubated ideas.

Listed skills include Furniture, Interior Design, Art, Space Planning, and 10 others.

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  Owner, Creative Director

  Atelier Viollet

  1985 - Present - Greater New York City Area

  Just imagine, generation after generation of a single wood-working family, each embellishing his craft, each bequeathing these hard-won skills to their off-spring. For ours, the 7th generation, we’ve revived the long dead art of marquetry, embellishing veneers with shagreen, straw, shell, parchment, and horn, adding unaffected luxury to our furniture. (A few other shops can handle one or two of these materials, but only Atelier Viollet has mastered them all.)Yet we’re either cursed (or blessed), with dissatisfaction. We push ourselves to make each piece better than the last. To do that, we listen hard to every designer, each architect, all clients. Of course, the virtuoso craftsmen of Atelier Viollet chip in their bottomless knowledge of wood and its wondrous possibilities. PortfolioOur humming workshop – founded in France in 1836 – was re-born in New York 150 years later. It is staffed now with proud workers of wood, each of them accomplished artisans in their own right. As a team, we go to work each day to build on our heritage, and set a mark for the next Viollet generation to strive for.As you’ll soon see, although we revere the ancient art of cabinetry, we keep a lively eye on new lines, new subtleties, and new elegance of shape.