FRANKFURT.- The first ever retrospective about André-Charles Boulle, the most illustrious cabinetmaker of all time, opened on October 28. With a scenography by Juan Pablo Molyneux, it takes place in the Museum of Decorative Arts of Frankfort, the emblematic building created by Richard Meier. It was conceived by two French art historians, Jean Nérée Ronfort and Jean Dominique Augarde, in close cooperation with Professor Ulrich Schneider, director of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Decorative Arts) of Frankfort. Even before he was 30 years old, the name of André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), Founder, Chaser, Gilder, Sculptor and Marqueter Ordinary to the King, was famous throughout Europe. In 1672 Louis XIV granted him a workshop inside the Louvre palace. His totally innovative genius in the concept of forms is paired with an unheard of virtuosity in the use of gilt bronze, which he was the first to unite with marquetry on a background of tortoiseshell. His creations were