Lazare Meerson

Lazare Meerson (1900–1938) was a French cinema art director. After emigrating from Soviet Russia in the early 1920s, he worked on French films of the late silent cinema and the early 1930s, particularly those directed by René Clair and Jacques Feyder. He worked in England during the last two years of his life. He had great influence on film set design in France in the years before World War II.

Career Early life Lazare Meerson was born in Warsaw, which in 1900 was part of the Russian Empire. He may have begun studying painting and architecture in Russia, but after the revolution of 1917 he moved to Germany and by 1919 he had registered as an art student in Berlin. While in Berlin, he gained some experience of designing for the theatre, before leaving for Paris in 1923 or 1924.

In France His first job in France in 1924 was at Films Albatros in Montreuil (a company which had been formed by Russian exiles in France) where he worked initially as a scene-painter and then as an assistant to some more experienced designers: Boris Bilinski (for L'Affiche), Alberto Cavalcanti (for Feu Mathias Pascal), and Pierre Kéfer (for Le Double Amour). By 1926, Meerson was appointed head of design at Albatros, and during the next three years he was responsible for the art direction on ten films. He formed particularly fruitful partnerships with Jacques Feyder (on Gribiche, Carmen, and Les Nouveaux Messieurs) and with René Clair (on La Proie du vent, Un chapeau de paille d'Italie, and Les Deux Timides). Meerson, in 1927, said of his work: "It is an art of self-denial. The designer should constantly conceal himself before the other elements of the production. The frame should never encroach upon the work itself. The setting harmonises with the film. Released from it is that atmosphere which is so important both to the director and to the performers."

With the end of the silent film era, Lazare Meerson moved with René Clair to Films Sonores Tobis at Épinay-sur-Seine, where he was appointed chef-décorateur (head of design). Together Clair and Meerson worked on four of the most influential early sound films of French cinema, starting with Sous les toits de Paris (1930). These films created an image of Paris which came to be seen by the world as quintessential, filled with picturesque urban neighbourhoods and easily recognisable 'types' of character, stylised in presentation and already anachronistic. Meerson's designs moved away from the monumental architectural sets which had characterised some 1920s productions, to favour a more intimate and painterly style which employed realistic detail and the play of lighting to create atmosphere.

When Jacques Feyder returned to France in 1933 after spending several years in Hollywood, he renewed his working relationship with Meerson on three sound films in France. Their partnership reached its peak with La Kermesse héroïque in 1935, for which Meerson created, in a suburban Paris studio, the 16th century Flemish town of Boom, with its streets, canals, public buildings and house interiors making reference to the paintings of Brueghel, Hals, and de Hoogh. Even in this historical context, he sought to combine realism with stylization: "Here Meerson put to the test all his experiments using iron, glass, and oil paint on a large scale, and he found ingenious ways to adapt parts of the studio factory to give his fantasies ballast. Here he achieved that balance between authenticity and the imaginary that was his goal and trademark and that would set the tone for the work of his many disciples". In addition to his film work at this period, Meerson also undertook other design projects such as the refurbishment of the Paris home of Jacques Feyder and Françoise Rosay, While he was working on the sets for The Citadel in 1938, Meerson contracted meningitis and died suddenly, shortly before his 38th birthday. Among those who attended his funeral were René Clair and Jacques Feyder.

Reputation and influence Shortly after his death, the director Alberto Cavalcanti wrote a tribute to Meerson in which he highlighted his personal qualities as a loyal and adaptable collaborator. He was described as "quiet, even taciturn; dependable, brilliant when brilliance was required, but having none of the instability which so often goes with brilliance."

Among the assistants or trainees who worked with Meerson on his French films during the 1930s were Alexandre Trauner, Jean d'Eaubonne and Georges Wakhévitch; they absorbed many of his ideas and their subsequent work in films saw the flowering of a style which has been given the label of poetic realism.

Meerson's influence upon the development of film set design was considerable. His personal style, marked by his Russian background and his experiences in Berlin, encouraged several trends in the cinema including that of poetic realism. His use of natural materials in the construction of sets, his carefully researched scenic recreations and his inventive use of false perspectives, always personally supervised at every stage of the work, established new standards in the art of film design.

Personal life Meerson was married to the ballet dancer and model Mary Meerson, who was Bulgarian born. (After his death she became the partner of Henri Langlois, founder of the Cinémathèque française.)

Filmography In the following films Meerson acted as set designer or art director.

Year Original title English title Director Notes 1924 Jean Epstein LM assisting Boris Bilinsky 1924 Feu Mathias Pascal Marcel L'Herbier LM assisting Alberto Cavalcanti 1925 Jean Epstein 1925 Nicolas Rimsky, Henry Wulschleger 1925 Paris en cinq jours Paris in Five Days Nicolas Rimsky, Pierre Colombier 1925 Les Aventures de Robert Macaire Jean Epstein 1926 Gribiche Gribiche; Mother of Mine Jacques Feyder 1926 Carmen Carmen Jacques Feyder 1927 Nocturne Marcel Silver Short film 1927 René Clair 1927 The Porter from Maxim's Nicolas Rimsky, Roger Lion 1928 Benito Perojo 1928 René Clair 1928 Souris d’hôtel Adelqui Migliar 1928 René Clair 1928 Marcel L'Herbier LM with André Barsacq 1929 Jacques Feyder 1929 Cagliostro Richard Oswald LM with Alexander Ferenczy 1930 Henri Chomette 1930 Under the Roofs of Paris René Clair LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1930 Le Mystère de la chambre jaune The Mystery of the Yellow Room Marcel L'Herbier LM with André Barsacq and Lucien Jaquelux 1930 Romance sentimentale Sentimental Romance Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov Short film 1931 David Golder David Golder Julien Duvivier 1931 L'Étrangère The Foreigner Gaston Ravel Also Italian version La straniera (1930), and German version Die Fremde (1931) 1931 End of the World Abel Gance LM with César Lacca, Jean Perrier, Walter Ruttmann 1931 André Chotet Short film. 1931 ; The Million René Clair LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1931 ; Freedom for Us René Clair LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner. Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction. 1931 Harry Lachman 1931 Jean de la lune Jean Choux LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1931 Wilhelm Thiele LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1931 ; Moon over Morocco Julien Duvivier LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1932 Georges Lacombe LM with Eugène Lourié 1932 Prisonnier de mon cœur Jean Tarride 1932 Augusto Genina 1932 Conduisez-moi, Madame Antoinette Herbert Selpin 1932 Jean-Paul Paulin 1932 Il a été perdu une mariée Léo Joannon 1933 Quatorze juillet Bastille Day René Clair LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1933 Ciboulette Ciboulette Claude Autant-Lara LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1933 Georges Lacombe 1934 Primerose René Guissart 1934 Jean Choux 1934 Lac aux dames Lake of Ladies Marc Allégret LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1934 Jacques Feyder LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1934 Poliche Abel Gance 1934 Amok Fyodor Otsep LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1934 Nemo's Bank Marguerite Viel 1934 L'Hôtel du libre échange Hotel Free Exchange Marc Allégret LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1934 Zouzou Marc Allégret LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1935 Justin de Marseille Maurice Tourneur LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1935 Pension Mimosas Jacques Feyder LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1935 Princesse Tam-Tam Princess Tam Tam Edmond T. Gréville LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1935 Les Beaux Jours Beautiful Days Marc Allégret LM assisted by Jean d'Eaubonne 1935 Carnival in Flanders Jacques Feyder LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner and Georges Wakhévitch (uncredited) 1936 As You Like It As you Like It Paul Czinner LM assisted by Alexandre Trauner 1937 Fire Over England Fire Over England William K. Howard 1937 Knight Without Armour Knight Without Armour Jacques Feyder 1937 Hanns Schwarz 1938 South Riding South Riding Victor Saville 1938 Break the News Break the News René Clair 1938 Tim Whelan LM assisted by Paul Sheriff and Alec Waugh. 1938 King Vidor Art direction completed by Alfred Junge after LM's death.