Alfred Porteneuve was born in Paris in 1896. In addition to his architectural studies at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, he worked with his uncle the great interior designer Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann. He participated in the installation of the pavilion of the "Hôtel du Collectionneur" by Ruhlmann at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in 1925. Porteneuve works with his uncle until Ruhlmann's death. After that, he is in charge of finishing the current orders. The following year he opens his own furniture house. He fitted out numerous private apartments, offices and the liner Pasteur in 1939, as well as the presidential rostrum at the Palais de la Société des Nations in Geneva.