Jacques Innocenti and Nydia Ronin met at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, from which they both graduated with honours in 1948.
Drawn by the artistic vitality that characterised Vallauris at the time, Jacques's parents, Odette and Ljuba Naumovitch, settled on the French Riviera that same year. They established the Atelier du Grand Chêne, which Nydia and Jacques would later take over following their sudden death in a car accident on 5 February 1956.
In 1952, Nydia and Jacques opened their own workshop on Rue Sicard. They participated in the major Vallauris ceramic exhibitions of 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957, as well as exhibitions in Cannes, Le Havre, the Ateliers d’Art de Paris, the Triennale di Milano and, as far afield as Caracas, the D-K Salon in 1955.
Their production was divided into two principal areas: functional tableware distinguished by a strong graphic identity, and sculptural works including large vases, platters and bowls of exceptional technical and artistic quality.
Their creations are characterised by figurative and decorative motifs, finely painted or incised using the sgraffito technique, together with a refined use of engobes producing subtle pastel-like effects.
The Jacques Innocenti workshop quickly gained recognition. Orders became increasingly numerous, ranging from Galeries Lafayette in Paris to Macy’s department stores in New York.
Jacques died tragically in Paris in August 1958 at the age of thirty-two, leaving Nydia with their two young daughters, Laurence and Eve.
Nydia preserved as much of the work as she could. This collection now forms the foundation of the archive that we hope to share with the public and through which Jacques Innocenti’s work continues to be rediscovered.