Alexandre Noll dedicated his life to working with wood, making it his primary means of expression. Yet, nothing in his background seemed to predestine him for this path, except for an instinctive understanding of this living material.

Born in Reims to Alsatian parents, Noll was mobilized during World War I, where he met Lucien Jacques, who owned a wood engraving workshop. This decisive encounter changed Noll's fate.

After the war, Noll began working with wood to make a living. From 1920 to 1925, he crafted umbrella and parasol handles, carved lamp bases, and snuff boxes. At the 1925 International Exhibition, he presented engraved lacquers and later displayed small objects inlaid with ivory or mother-of-pearl at the Salons d'Automne and the Salons of Decorative Artists. He caught the attention of Paul Poiret, who commissioned work from him. Noll participated in the 1937 Exposition and played a significant role in the 1939 Salon des Décorateurs. In 1943, his first furniture pieces were presented at the Compagnie des Arts Français.

Noll's earliest utilitarian objects—trays, bowls, and boxes—were already full-fledged sculptures, carved with gouges and chisels, then polished and glossed to perfection.

Contrary to trends at the time, when standardization and mass production were reaching their peak, Noll focused on creating unique, handcrafted furniture. He used a variety of wood species, highlighting the natural beauty of each piece, without concealing its veins, flaws, or knots. He worked with pure materials, avoiding the use of glue or metal, and created "tree-furniture" with anthropomorphic shapes, carved directly from solid wood.

To express his art, Noll invented signs, rhythms, volumes, and contrasts of solids and voids, all of which the wood lent its formal reality.

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