1913
René Crevel moves to Paris.
He works first at Dumas, one of the most prestigious decoration and furnishing houses of its time, designing wallpaper and fabric patterns, and later, models for furniture.
1914-1917
He leaves his job and, working as a freelance, designs furniture, wallpaper and fabric patterns for Les Galeries Lafayette, Le Printemps, Pygmalion and Les Trois-Quartiers.
In his small apartment at 56 rue de l'Université, he works on personal projects in all areas of decoration including wallpapers and fabrics, but also models of furniture, lamps, screens, interior design, posters, theatre sets and costumes. He also paints a lot, influenced by the prevailing artistic trends; avant-garde, fauvism, cubism, futurism and ‘The Nabis’, a group of artists.
In September 1917, the first press articles featuring René Crevel appear ; the first one in the magazine Normandie, followed by La Revue Normande in November.
1918-1924 : Recognition
1918
First exhibition of paintings in Paris at the Galerie Sauvage, 370 rue Saint-Honoré, (October 28-November 25) alongside Henry-E. Burel, Jacques Camus, Morin-Jean.
First collaboration with Arsène Durec, one of the most innovative directors of his generation: René Crevel creates the models, sets and costumes for three plays: Le Peintre exigeant by Tristan Bernard Il était une bergère by André Rivoire and La Cruche ou J'en ai plein le dos de Margot by Georges Courteline and Pierre Wolff. The last two plays are among those selected by Arsène Durec for a major tour of Scandinavia.
1919
He is personally involved in the production of his sets and costumes for La Cruche and Il était une bergère. The Durec Tour leaves Paris on April 19 with a dozen plays in its repertoire, whose designers include René Crevel as well as Bénédictus, Daragnès, Dethomas, Derain, Othon Friesz, Vlaminck, Vuillard. Performances take place in all the important cities of Scandinavia, in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden (April 19-May 31).
The tour then continues to French and German-speaking Switzerland, with performances in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Geneva, Zurich and Basel (August 31-September 30).
That spring, René Crevel moves to 15 rue de Grenelle, the Hôtel de Bérulle, in the 7th arrondissement.
The summer he spends in Fécamp. The town and its surroundings inspire him to produce numerous paintings; oils and gouaches, which constitute an important stage in the development of his style.
First participation in the Salon d'Automne (Paris, November 1-December 10): he exhibits a set of seven carpets, each with a central motif borrowed from fauna and flora.
He designs the facade of a fishmonger's shop, Aux Marées de la nuit, on rue de Vaugirard in Paris.
His silk furnishing designs are used by Cornille Frères, one of Lyon's leading manufacturers. They are exhibited at the General Exhibition of Applied Art at the Galliera Museum, Paris, alongside designs by Maurice Dufrène, the Primavera workshop, Fernand Nathan and Baron (winter 1919-20).
1920
At the end of March, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, he attends the first "dance concert" given in Paris by Jean Börlin of the Swedish Ballet. René Crevel paints him in two of his solos, as Harlequin and in Before Death.
Participates in the exhibition L'Artisanat français (French arts & crafts), organised in Amsterdam by the Metz & Co department store, which showcases his fabrics, as well as those of Baron and Andrada, along with pieces by Decœur, Delaherche, Lenoble, Lachenal (ceramics), Lalique (glass), Dunand (metal), and the jewelry of Bablet, Rivaud, Bastard (May-June).
Exhibition of his paintings at the Galerie Sauvage, along with Morin-Jean (May 22-June 7).
Joins forces with his painter and decorator friend, Jacques Camus, to form a company, "Cactus, Société de papiers peints modernes".
At the Salon d'Automne, he exhibits wallpapers printed by Cactus; and, for the first time, paintings , alongside Dunoyer de Segonzac, Lebasque, Camoin, Denis, Matisse, Van Dongen, Vlaminck, Vallotton... (October 15-December 12).
Creates the sets and costumes for L'Atlantide, the first theatrical adaptation of Pierre Benoit's novel. The play, adapted by Henri Clerc, is directed by Arsène Durec. It premieres on December 18 at the Théâtre Marigny, Paris.
1921
His models, for the sets and costumes for L'Atlantide, are put on show at the art gallery of the Théâtre Marigny (January).
First participation in the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs (Paris, March 4-April 17): exhibits wallpapers printed by Cactus, as well as decorative motifs for cretonnes and printed canvases.
Marries Ernestine Héloïse Bécasse at the town hall of the 7th, Paris, June 18th.
Death of his father, Maurice Crevel, on August 12th at the home of his sister, Claire, in Écalles-Alix.
At the Salon d'Automne, he again exhibits wallpapers and paintings. He also signs, with Francis Paul, the wallpapers and fabrics of the "Resting Place", a set of furniture that René Herbst exhibited for his first participation in the Salon (Paris, November 1 - December 20).
Creates for "Le Décor mural", a decoration house on rue d'Argenteuil, a line of modern furniture intended for mass production.
1922
René Crevel designs the first collection of modern wallpapers for the Maison CH.-H. Geffroy, a company producing wallpapers and high-end fabrics.
At the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, he shows them for the first time (February 24-April 2).
His wallpapers are also on show, together with those fabrics printed by Cornille Frères, at the Exhibition Le Décor de la vie sous le second Empire (Interior Decoration in the 2nd Empire), and at the Museum of Decorative Arts (Paris, May 27-July 10).
Creation of the sets and costumes for a new adaptation of L'Atlantide, first presented in Lyon, Algiers and Oran, before its premiere in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Eden on May 13.
After another summer spent in Fécamp, as he now would every summer, he exhibits paintings and the Geoffroy wallpapers collection at the Salon d'Automne (November 1 - December 17).
At the General Exhibition of Applied Art at the Galliera Museum (Paris, winter 1922-1923), he shows his silk canvases printed in colour on a plate by Cornille.
1923
René Crevel develops the idea of "The House of the Future” in a purest modernist style. His model is exhibited at the First Salon of Modern Architecture, organized on the initiative of Mallet-Stevens, which brings together at the Grand Palais 25 leading architects of his time, including Crevel, Djo-Bourgeois, Chareau, Molinié, Roux-Spitz, Sauvage, Siclis, Tony Garnier...
And at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, where he also shows wallpaper panels printed by CH.-H. Geffroy (May 4-July 1).
Creates several exclusive wallpaper designs for Nancy McClelland, one of the first women decorators in the United States, a pioneer of American interior design, who had established herself in New York.
In the summer, he undertakes a trip to Brittany, his first pilgrimage to this land of artists, so dear to Gauguin and the Nabis. From Bono and Quiberon, and from Ploumanac'h, he brings back numerous studies, which he uses as inspiration for his paintings upon his return, and will so do over the following years.
At the end of October, he wins a prize in the competition for the façade of the Maison Mercier Frères on the Champs-Élysées, organized by the Société d'Encouragement à l'Art et à l'Industrie (SEAI). His project receives a mention in the Society's brochure. It is then put on show (with the 43 other projects in the running at the Hall Mercier, 100 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, October 29-November 3).
At the Salon d'Automne he exhibits two paintings on the theme of Brittany, and a new panel of wallpapers printed by Geffroy (November 1 - December 16).
1924
In March, René Crevel wins a competition launched by the Grands Magasins du Louvre for their pavilion at the 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative Arts. His project is ranked third, after that of Albert Laprade, who would then build the Pavilion, and Guillemonat.
Coopted by his peers, he joins the Groupement des Architectes Modernes (GAM), founded by Albert Laprade and chaired by Frantz Jourdain (in 1923).
He is the architect-decorator of a new theatre: "the Theatre of the Avenue", rue du Colisée, a stone's throw from the Champs-Élysées. He is placed in charge of the entire interior layout, of every detail of the decoration. He also designs the façade (inauguration on May 16).
Participation in the Salon des Artistes français at the Grand Palais (April 29-May).
Exhibition of paintings 1st Group: Cochet, Crevel, Jacquemot, Léveillé, Lepreux, Galerie Briant-Robert, rue d'Argenteuil (May 17-31).
At the Salon d'Automne (November 1-December 14), he exhibits for the first time a set of furniture: "a working cabinet in Rio rosewood", made by the Maison Krieger, Faubourg Saint-Antoine. It is then included in Maurice Dufrène's portfolio, Ensembles mobiliers (Furniture sets) at the International Exhibition 1925.