Édouard Bénédictus (1878-1930) was a French designer, painter and chemist, and one of the most recognisable figures of floral Art Deco. Born in Paris, he began in the Art Nouveau years and moved with the change of taste after 1912, becoming known for the pattern portfolios Variations (1923) and Nouvelles variations (1928), produced by the stencil technique known as pochoir and built on bold, flat blocks of colour.
His designs were made up as furnishing silks and satins by houses including Brunet, Meunié et Cie and Tassinari et Chatel, and his rugs furnished the Grand Salon and Music Room of the French Embassy pavilion at the 1925 Paris Exposition. He was also a working chemist: he patented laminated safety glass in 1909, and was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour.
