Jacques Groag was an architect and an interior designer, originally from Moravia.
Biography
Early Life
Jacques Groag, was born in 1892 in Olomouc. He was born to a well known Jewish family who lived in a malt house, his relatives included his brother Emanuel “Emo” Groag who was a draftsman and a cartoonist, cousin Heinrich Groag was an acclaimed lawyer, who also worked on the domestic and international scene as a pacifist and Nephew Willi Groag was known for his humanitarian work during World War II.
Education
Jacques Groag studied at the German grammar school in Olomouc, later graduated from German secondary school in Manchester, after completing the military service he went to Vienna to study architecture in 1910 with Adolf Loos, a well-known Austrian architect of Moravian origin.
Marriage
Jacques Groag was married to Hilde Pick in 1937, who later changed her name to Jacqueline Groag when she got married, she was born on the. She was a textile designer and the ultimate accolade for any designer in Britain. Jacques and Jacqueline first met in the 1930s at a masked ball in Viennese, they got engaged in 1931 but did not marry until 1937. Despite all this, Jacques was unable to devote himself to architecture till the end which caused depression which lead to his death by heart attack.
Jacques and Jacqueline Groag fled with his wife to Prague in 1938 after the Anschluss of Austria, they could not stay long in Prague as they were forced to leave, where they decided to move to London. Despite all the language difficulties, they mainly focused on their designs where they later on worked for British design factory, including Gordon Russell's.
Career
Jacques Groag began to devote a separate creation in the mid-1920s, he slowly started working independently and at the same time started collaborating with Viennese architectural offices. He was trained as an architect in Vienna and later on joined Adolf Loos office, he set up his own practice in 1926 and in no time became one of the leading architects in Vienna for working on housing projects, public buildings and private houses. In 1939 after coming to the united kingdom, he joined Gordon Russell's team designing utility furniture. The couple were childless. Jacques and Jacqueline Groag's estate is housed in the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Jacques produced designs for exhibitions including Britain can make it, in 1946 and the festival of Britain in 1951, in 1952 he became a fellow of the society of industrial Artists. He also worked on interior schemes and furniture designs with the exhibitions.
