Rene Lalique

 

     Many of you that read my posts know that j'adore Art Nouveau [circa l895-l9l5], specifically the jewelry design of this time period.  The Art Nouveau movement did not last for many years, yet it is a very recognizable and collectible art form in not only jewelry but painting, sculpture, glass, ceramics, architecture and numerous objects d'art.

     Art Nouveau became a rebellious response to the industrialized and overly replicated works of the late Victorian Era.  This movement was also heavily influenced by Asian art that began to flood the European markets in the mid-l800s.  Asian art was fluid and organic with an emphasis on the natural world.  Art Nouveau artists adopted these curving, sinuous and dynamic lines with the emphasis on the objectified female form in a myriad of fanciful, natural settings.  One may also find highly stylized critters such as butterflies, dragonflies, bats, birds and reptiles.  Finally, if one is a botanical lover, these artists interpreted  flowers in seductive shapes and lines that imply graceful movement.  My personal favorites are the poppies, orchids, and irises.

     One of the icons of the Art Nouveau movement is Rene Lalique.  Lalique was a genius at using non-traditional materials such as glass and horn combined with beautiful gemstones and metal to achieve his fanciful and magical designs. Rene Lalique was born in April of l860 in the village of Ay, France. Lalique showed artistic promise and at the tender of age of four, he was apprenticed to the goldsmith, Louis Aucoc. At the age of l2, he entered the College of Turgot where he studied drawing and design. He then moved on to the Crystal Palace School of Art Design. After a brief time in England where he worked as a free lance artist, he returned to Paris where he worked for jewelers with names like...Cartier and Boucheron.

     By the l920s, Lalique had perfected the glass work for which he is most famous.  As the Art Deco movement became popular with its clean symmetrical lines and architectural design, Lalique cemented his place in art history in the areas of home decor, lighting design, ornamental design for the new burgeoning automotive industry, and of course...jewelry.

     Lalique lived and worked as one of the preeminent French artists in Paris until his death in May of l945.  His work is still sold and collected in the secondary market, as well as shown on display at his own museum, Musee Lalique in Paris. His last direct descendant, Marie Claude-Lalique was also a glass maker. She died in April of 2003 in Fort Myers, Florida.

     Lalique was a gifted artist.  A Mozart of metal, if you will.  His designs light the imagination and create a universe where anything was and is possible.  He orchestrated a world that the rest of us could only see in our dreams.  Long live the dreamers.