Posts Tagged ‘19th century europe’

ART NOUVEAU BELGIAN FURNITURE: LADY’S BUREAU, MAHOGANY AND MIXED-WOOD TABLE, MAHOGANY SCREEN, WALNUT TABLE, COIFFEUSE.

IN LATE 19TH-CENTURY Europe, Art
Nouveau reached its creative peak in Belgium. Its success there was largely due to the fact that people were encouraged to explore fresh, exciting ways of looking at the arts.
The same, spirited Art Nouveau message that called fora cohesive, unified interior — so successfully accomplished elsewhere in Europe —took root in Belgium in the work of a number of innovative artist-architects, such as Victor Hotta, Henry van de Velde, and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy
The Belgian version of Art Nouveau had much in common with its French counterpart. Both embraced free-flowing, sinuous, sculptural furniture, and had a rich vocabulary of decorative motifs in organic shapes — plants, Hower blossoms, trees, butterflies, and insects — all drawn from the natural world.
HENRY VAN DE VELDE
Henry van de Velde won universal acclaim for the design of his own home near Brussels — Bloemenwerf —where furniture, carpets, and wall coverings combined to create a harmonious whole. He forged strong links with France by showcasing and selling his furniture at prestigious retail shops in Paris, including Siegfried Bing’s FArt Nouveau and La Maison Modern owned by Julius Meier-Graefe. Widely celebrated
throughout Europe, van de Velde was influenced by the writings of William Morris and believed that art should always follow organic form — a theory that underlined his furniture designs. Echoing nature’s subtle curves and lines, they were rendered in light-coloured, native timbers such as walnut, beech, and oak, and had minimal decoration. Despite van de Velde’s theories, function was key to his sturdy yet elegantly simple cabinets, tables, and writing desks.
VICTOR HORTA
Another Belgian pioneer of the Art Nouveau style was the architect and designer, Victor Hotta, who designed spectacular buildings such as the
splendid Hotel Tassel in Brussels. His interiors coalesced into harmonious and integrated ensembles: from wall panelling, ceilings, and door frames to furniture and metalwork fixtures, using an exciting range of new
materials, such as iron and glass.
The cross-fertilization between French and Belgian Art Nouveau resulted in Horta’s energetic, curving style — with its signature whiplash curves — influencing Parisian designers such as Hector Guimard. His expensive furniture was skilfully crafted in luxurious timbers such as maple, mahogany, and fruitwoods, and lavishly upholstered in fabrics such as velvet and silk.

GUSTAVE SERRURIER-BOVY
Like van de Velde and Horta, Gustave Serrurier-Bovy adopted many familiar Art Nouveau decorative motifs to complement his furniture, including plants and flowers, sinuous curves, and high-wrought mounts of pewter or brass. Determined to produce well-designed furniture for everyone, Serrurier-Bovy was also inspired by the English Arts and Crafts Movement, as seen in his robust, rectilinear furniture and in his preference for oak.
The influence of these highly original Belgian designers reached beyond their national borders to set the cultural standard for Art Nouveau furniture throughout much of Europe.
The Musee Hotta This building was originally built by Victor Horta as his own studio and residence. This view shows the integrated interior, with both the staircase and glass dome featuring his
characteristic whiplash curves. 1898.

COIFFEUSE
This mahogany coiffeuse was designed by the artist-architect, Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, as a piece of bedroom furniture. The mirror is comprised of three panels, contained within a gently curving frame. The table section has
two pairs of drawers above and two drawers below. The elegant, curved lines of the top of the piece are echoed in the arched stretchers joining the legs, and the arch at the front of the table, which creates the kneehole. 1899.
BED FRAME
s bed frame has a bold, curvilinear shape is made from stained oak. It was designed Henry van de Velde. The head has bowed and arched profiles and ’s of raised and fielded, shield-shaped
panels. The piece terminates in splayed feet, which form part of the overall curved shape, and rests on brass casters. Henry van de Velde believed that art should follow an organic form and this influenced the shape and decoration of his furniture. c.1897-98.

SIDE CHAIR
This mahogany chair was designed by Victor Horta and illustrates his use of sumptuous materials and curving style, as shown in the design of the chair back, legs, and stretchers. The seat
is covered with a generously upholstered cushion.
c.1901.
WALNUT TABLE
This walnut occasional table has an overhanging circular top, arched apron, and curving, cabriole legs that terminate in stylized feet. The piece was designed by Henry
van de Velde. c.1916.
MAHOGANY SCREEN
This mahogany screen, designed by Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, has three glass panels that create strong vertical lines. In contrast, the top of the piece is sinuous in shape. While the glass in the lower half of the screen is original, the upper pieces are replacements.
1899.

MAHOGANY AND MIXED-WOOD TABLE
This side table is made of mahogany decorated with marquetry. The top is inlaid with a floral decoration above a short drawer, and the cupboard is inlaid with a daffodil design. The supports are embellished with sinuous tendrils and brass fittings.
c. 1902.
LADY’S BUREAU
Designed by Henry van de Velde and made by H. Scheidemantel in Weimar, this bureau design is typical of the work of van de Velde. The curved lines of the wood are used to create an unusual and organic shape, avoiding applied, inlaid, or any elaborate decoration. The only detailing is the unobtrusive, copper key mounts and the brass shoes. c.1903.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF the Parisian thread of French Art Nouveau is distinguished by a group of forward-looking individuals who formed artistic groups to experiment with new forms, and who were supported by a circle of entrepreneurs. The most important patron was the influential dealer, Siegfried Bing (see p.355). An enthusiastic collector with a special interest in Oriental art, Bing played a crucial role in Le Japon Artistique, a publication that was instrumental in popularizing Far Eastern Art in 19th-century Europe, before he moved on to promote Art Nouveau.
AN ENTERPRISING ENDEAVOUR Key to the success of the “new art” in Paris was Binds transformation of his antiques shop in Paris into the gallery L’Art Nouveau in 1895. He dedicated this to exhibiting a host of decorative objects, which embodied the new directions in art while also being inspired by French tradition. He assembled a group of innovative artists – not only from France but also Henry van de Velde of Belgium and the American, Louis Comfort Tiffany –and showcased their latest works. Bing succeeded in bringing Art Nouveau to a wealthy, fashion-conscious clientele and was joined in this endeavour by the German art critic, Julius Meier Graefe who established La Maison Moderne in 1898. His aim was to offer more affordable decorative wares in the Art Nouveau style, made using industrial methods.
THE PARIS AND NANCY STYLES Although both the Paris and Nancy Schools pioneered the new, curvilinear, organic furniture style, the leading designers of both schools – Hector Guimard in Paris and Louis Majorette and Emille Galle in Nancy – each drew inspiration from nature in a very different way. At the Ecole de Nancy, the style was much more exuberant and florid: the finely crafted pieces had sculptural shapes and were richly veneered in exotic woods, with motherof-peal inlays, marquetry, and gilt-bronze mounts.
The Parisian strand of Art Nouveau was lighter and more restrained, and owed much to the work of the architect and furniture designer, Hector Guimard.
One of a talented group of cabinetmakers, Guimard – who was a disciple of Victor Horta in Belgium and is best remembered for his Paris Metro entrances – was one of the most innovative and progressive. His bold and energetic three-dimensional furniture designs were imaginative, sculptural evocations of the natural world. At first these were made in solid mahogany, but later he used a soft pearwood that was easier to model.
DECORATIVE INSPIRATION Although the decoration favoured by the Paris School took its inspiration from nature, it was stylized. Other furniture designers who were part of Siegfried Bing’s influential gallery and retail shop,

and who formed the core of the Paris School of Art Nouveau, included Eugene Gaillard, the Dutchman Georges De Feure, and German-born Edouard Colonna.
ROCOCO INFLUENCE
Gaillard’s robust, dynamic furniture looked back to the 18th-century Rococo style of Louis XV for inspiration, and included pieces such as the magnificent display cupboard in walnut that was shown at the 1900 International Exhibition in Paris (see pp.354-55), as well as light and airy tables and chairs with sinuous decoration in aquatic plant patterns.
The slender and refined gilded wood furniture created by De Feure was delicately carved with plant
motifs and combined with silk fabrics. His sophisticated designs drew inspiration from the 18th-century French tradition of furniture-making, especially the Louis XVI style.
Colonna’s furniture was a quieter version of Art Nouveau. Its simple forms and scrolling, decorative patterns were carved with a light and delicate hand.

WALNUT-FRAMED CHAIR
This carved walnut chair was designed by Eugene Gaillard. The chair has a distinctive pierced, asymmetric floral and foliate carved frame decorated with sinuous curves and plant tendril carving on the back. The chair seat and back are upholstered with the original floral embossed brown leather, which is fixed in place with brass studs. The chair stands on flared feet. This style was influenced by leading Paris School artist-craftsmen such as Hector Guimard. c. 1905.

OAK SERVER
A more restrained Art Nouveau style is shown in this oak and purple-heart server designed by Leon Jallot. The piece has an arched, raised back with pierced, stylized leaf motifs above Iwo frieze drawers and open shelves.
DESK CHAIR
This Tony Selmersheim desk chair is made from padouk, a type of rosewood. The chair has a wavy top rail above a cartouche-shaped padded back with inscrolled arms and a
padded seat. The piece stands on gently splayed tapering legs. c.1902.
MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE
Designed by Camille Gauthier and Paul Poinsignon, this table has a concave-shaped rectangular top with delicate, floral-motif fruitwood marquetry. It sits above an arched frieze with daffodil-design marquetry, on spiral-carved, tapering legs. c.1900.

GLASS-FRONTED CABINET
This cabinet is made of lemonwood and satinwood and carved with foliate motifs. The stained glass cabinet doors contain simple, swirling foliate designs in coloured glass. The piece was designed by Edouard Colonna for Siegfried Bing. 1900.

In the 1890s, public and private interiors in France underwent a period of radical change, reflecting a burgeoning interest in modern materials, nature-inspired decorative motifs, and imaginative forms of Art Nouveau. One of the most original French Art Nouveau architects, Hector Guimard, was celebrated for his sinuous, decorative, wrought-iron entrances for the Metro stations in Paris.
Guimard made his mark as an architect with a distinctive block of flats he built in Paris from 1894 to 1998, which was known as Lc Cassel Beranger, located at
Entrance to Boissiere Metro station This is one of the curvaceous cast-iron Paris Metro entrances designed by Hector Guimard. 1899-1904.
10 rue dc la 1bntainc. Loth the exterior and interior of the flats boast hold, abstract ornament. Ile used variegated colour on the facade, and built an interior courtyard to allow more light into the apartments.
Guimard understood the need to create brightly coloured living spaces that were open and hilt of light. With the Castel ir3cianger, he demonstrated how the decorative arts, in a wide range of materials, could successfully work together with architecture to create a unified, modern scheme.

WALNUT SELETTE
This two-tier walnut selette stand was designed by Edouard Diot. Beneath a flat top, distinctive, delicately curved supports decorated with carved, twisting floral motifs extend from the upper tier via open supports. The piece rests on out-splayed carved feet.