EMILE GALLÉ
EMILE GALLÉ Book Number: 77396 Product format: Hardback
In 1895, Art Nouveau exploded in France. Siegfried Bing, an art dealer with German ancestry but French nationality, opened a gallery entirely devoted to this innovative new art form, playing a significant role in the diffusion of the movement. The aim of one of its icons, Emile Gallé, was to portray the loveliness and simplicity of nature in the art of glass making, where his works were referred to as 'poetry in glass', but he did not confine his talents to glass alone. His designs also ranged from fine pottery and jewellery to furniture. In this unparalleled book, the artist himself attempts to unravel the beauty and ingenuity found within his own work but finds it almost impossible to express in words. The pictures are breathtaking. Gallé managed to combine his father's trade of pottery and glassware with his own passion for botany, together with his deep admiration for the Japanese artists whose works he collected. He also brought to his creations a mysterious and refined melding of literature and philosophy. At the 1889 World Exposition, he won three awards for his entries, and the critic Roger Marx dubbed him 'homo triplex'. In 1901 he was a co-founder of Alliance Provinciale des Industries d'Art, also known as the Ecole de Nancy. The artists' goal was to eliminate the separation between disciplines so that there no longer existed a distinction between experienced and inexperienced artists. Nature was the basis of their aesthetic, seen through the creation of flower and plant stylisation. Sadly, after the movement reached its peak, Gallé's designs tragically disappeared from the world of art, as a new fashion took over - the style of Art Deco. Gallé's original luxurious creations had been too difficult to reproduce on a large scale and were soon passed over in favour of the new craze. 199 pages 29cm x 24.5cm photographed in glowing colour.
Bibliophile price: £11.00
