London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Artist and Designer Marin Montagut Sets Up Shop in Paris

Artist and Designer Marin Montagut Sets Up Shop in Paris

His new Left Bank boutique, near the Luxembourg Gardens, is a magical delight for design lovers.

With its emerald-green facade, striped awning, and rooms lined with 1940s oak shelving, the Parisian artist and designer Marin Montagut’s new Left Bank boutique is the perfect introduction to his whimsical world. Inside, the sage-hued walls encompass a veritable garden of delights-from porcelain plates embellished with Montagut’s watercolor illustrations of French gardens and tarot-card motifs, to silk scarves imprinted with his signature maps of Parisian neighborhoods and parks, to glassware hand-painted with images of chairs or flowers.

Certainly, there is no greater embodiment of the bohemian Parisian than Montagut himself. Clad in his uniform of striped marinière shirt, blue worker’s jacket, and faded jeans, the artist can be spotted cruising around town on his navy Vespa as he navigates from his production studio in Montmartre to his apartment in the 11th arrondissement to his shop on rue Madame. Born in Toulouse, he was reared in a family of antiques dealers and worked for the French decorator Christian Sapet, whose 20th-century vintage shop in the Saint-Ouen flea market is a must-stop for everyone from designers to movie set decorators. It was there that he met style icon Ines de la Fressange, a friend of Sapet’s and a weekend antiquer. “I learned very quickly that Marin had many talents!” says de la Fressange, who teamed up with the artist on several projects, most recently their best-selling book Maison: Parisian Chic at Home. “Even then, he had an astonishing eye.”

            

Several years ago, Montagut, who is self-taught as an artist, began to develop his burgeoning lifestyle brand. He started with hand-painted goods, such as botanical wall hangings and prints, and created his eye-catching Bonjour city map-guides, a series of illustrated pocket guides to his favorite old-world addresses in New York, London, and Paris, which he initially sold on his website and in select specialty stores. His playful aesthetic quickly earned attention from brands and cultural institutions, and soon he was designing products for a range of clients: printed guides for the Château de Versailles, wallpaper for Pierre Frey inspired by 18th-century engravings, and cashmere throws and pillows for Saved NY. When it came time to open a corner at Le Bon Marché, the Parisian department store, Montagut expanded his collection with everything from dishware to embroidered cushions.

                

This year, Montagut finally felt ready to open a storefront to feature his designs, along with antique finds and travel ephemera. He found the perfect space in a late-19th-century building near the Luxembourg Gardens: a family-owned former tapestry workshop. The location presented something of a boyhood dream; the park’s vintage pond boats, iconic armchairs, and varied flora were among his earliest inspirations.



While it’s tempting to classify Montagut’s shop as a cabinet of curiosities-as many do-it’s much too prosaic for a curation that is both poetic and considered. The artist’s playful blend of old French style and modern bohemianism is distinctly his own. “I wanted this shop to be an extension of my two homes,” Montagut says. To that end, he sourced the decor-rustic wood shelving, tulip light fixtures with an air of miniskirts, and wooden display cases-precisely as he had for his Paris apartment and the cottage workshop he maintains in Normandy: by traversing France’s many antiques markets. “It’s not enough to just appear old,” he says. “Everything is in the details for me.”

With the help of the architect Giovanna de Bosredon of Auguri Studio, he was able to preserve the original parquet and terra-cotta floor tiles and divide the space into three rooms. Illustration, the core of his work, feeds into a host of artistic decorative objects for the home. Porcelain ex-votos, throws, and papier-mâché boxes sit side by side with vintage Flemish table bells, apothecary jars, and his signature Sicilian lemon candles. The middle room, nicknamed the “boudoir,” is accented with his impeccably styled throw pillows, framed Deyrolle butterflies, and a striking 1950s globe—the only treasure in the shop that is not for sale.

            

The artist’s preferred room comes last. Here, a massive buffet is stocked high with his newest collection of tableware and glassware. Meanwhile, the painter’s desk in the corner—a re-creation of his workspace dressed up with pigments, brushes, and accessories to personalize pieces for clients—invites a moment of pause. “I want people to forget what’s going on in the world while they’re here,” Montagut says, as he carefully wraps a dish in his namesake tissue paper. “I want time to stop.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×