Biography

Rosane Brussaux is a decorative artist whose name is primarily associated with the art of window display design in Paris during the second half of the 20^th century and the creation of animated displays for the Roger & Gallet perfume house. As early as 1953, her work caught the attention of the trade press: the magazine Gebrauchsgraphik published an article by Lucienne R. Alexandre titled "Rosane Brussaux, Paris: Perfume Window Displays," dedicated to the artist's work in the field of window scenography.

A significant part of Brussaux's professional career was linked to Roger & Gallet, a French perfume house founded in 1862 by Charles Roger and Charles Gallet. In the 1930s, their Paris boutique at 32 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré became famous for its unusual storefronts: thematic decorations and moving scenes with automata transformed the advertising space into a kind of miniature theatre. It was during this period that Brussaux was appointed head of the artistic concept for the window displays. In auction catalogues, she is explicitly designated as the "responsable de la création artistique chez Roger & Gallet."

The primary professional partner of Rosane Brussaux was Joseph Migotto, who handled the technical execution of the projects. Together, they created not just decorative compositions, but entire animated scenes featuring moving characters, including perfumers, musicians, and other figures.

Artistic vision, character design, and near-theatrical staging were seamlessly combined with meticulously engineered mechanical movement. To manufacture these mechanisms, Brussaux and Migotto turned to JAF (Jouets et Automates Français), a Paris-based workshop specializing in the creation of electric automata for promotional window displays. JAF continued the legacy of the famous Vichy and Triboulet workshops, inheriting their long-standing tradition of automata manufacturing. During the period of collaboration with Brussaux and Migotto, the JAF workshops were managed by Monsieur Accursi.

The automata they created were featured in the windows of Roger & Gallet and distributed to perfume boutiques throughout France. Thus, over time, Brussaux’s work expanded far beyond Paris and ceased to be just ordinary window dressing. Her artistry lay in forging a distinctive visual language for the perfume house, where advertising was transformed into a theatrical performance, and the static space of a storefront became a stage for mechanical characters.

Later, Brussaux and Migotto continued their work independently. In the 1970s, they were associated with the "La Boutique de la Grange" workshop in Goussainville, in the Yvelines department, where they created stage sets and new automata, including items for Roger & Gallet. Among the most famous works of this period is the "One-Man Band" (Homme-orchestre), a musical automaton that plays several instruments simultaneously, using an electric mechanism to activate a tambourine, a drum, and cymbals. Although these works are best viewed in dialogue with one another – exactly as they were conceived to form a unified, theatrical scene – each individual piece also demonstrates how far the artistry of Brussaux and Migotto transcended simple advertising decoration: the automaton is transformed into an independent stage character in its own right.

A special place among Brussaux's works is held by "The Writing Gentleman" (L’Écrivain), created circa 1965. The automaton depicts an early 19^th-century writer sitting at a desk and using a quill to write the name Goussonville on a sheet of paper.

Its movement reproduces not merely a human gesture, but the very process of writing, transforming a mechanical action into a small vignette. The automaton sequentially portrays the act of writing and then presents the sheet of paper with the result of its labour to the viewer. In doing so, the mechanical gesture takes on a narrative function.

Today, a significant portion of the animated compositions created by Brussaux and Migotto is preserved in the Museum of Mechanical Music (Musée de la Musique Mécanique des Gets) in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie. Around forty scenes related to the window displays of Roger & Gallet have entered the museum's collection.

In 2014, a dedicated exhibition was organized to honour this famous perfume house.

Thus, Rosane Brussaux has secured a rare and unique place at the intersection of window scenography, decorative art, advertising, and the history of automata. Her work captures a specific chapter in the history of post-war France, where the commercial storefront was transformed into a genuine creative space – a place where lighting, decoration, costume, and mechanical movement combined to stage a spectacular show for the passing pedestrian.