The Legacy of Japanese Art Part 2 Pgs. 49-80

Japonisme (1860s-1910s) Source: Seiji Yamauchi Fashionable young women inspect a Japanese screen, in a painting by James Tissot, ca 1869-70. Japonism, or Japonisme, the original French term, which is also used in English, is a term for the influence of the arts of Japan on those of the West. The word was first used by Jules Claretie in his book L'Art Francais en 1872 published in that year. Works arising from the direct transfer of principles of Japanese art on Western, especially by French artists, are called Japonesque. From the 1860s, ukiyo-e, Japanese wood-block prints, became a source of inspiration for many European impressionist painters in France and the rest of the West, and eventually for Art Nouveau. Artists were especially affected by the absence of perspective and shadow, the flat areas of strong color, the compositional freedom in placing the subject off-centre, with mostly low diagonal axes to the background. Although Japanese export artefacts started the fashion for a Japanese style during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe, it is generally believed that this was little more than market demand for the exotic and Japanese styles were applied purely for decorative effect. Japonisme, which appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century, is differentiated from such earlier Japanese influence in its deeper understanding of the concepts underlying Japanese art. Western pictorial artists had started to use the concept of Japanese art to free themselves from Western classical tradition. Japanese wood block prints, ukiyo-e, were newly introduced in the nineteenth century and had a sensational impact on Western art. Asymmetrical arrangement, blank backgrounds, flat and linear depiction disregarding mathematical perspective - none of these featured in the traditional canon of which had ruled in the West for centuries. These elements were integrated with Western practices and new styles emerged. It is, however, commonly acknowledged that Japonisme emerged after 1854 when more information on Japanese art became available. A number of books were written by ambassadors who returning from service in Japan. For instance, Laurence Oliphant (1829–1888) published his two-volume Narrative of the Earl of Elginís Mission to China and Japan in 1859, consisting of some Japanese wood block prints. These books were an immediate success and editions in the US and France followed in 1860. In 1863, Sir Rutherford Alcock (1809–1897), the first British diplomatic representative in Japan, published his famous The Capital of the Tycoon, which included numerous prints of superb quality chosen by the author who was a serious collector of Japanese art. Turning to the availability of Japanese decorative arts in Europe (excluding Holland), a British ship carrying a full load of Japanese crafts returned to London in 1854. These were exhibited at the Old Watercolour Society Gallery in Pall Mall East and became the first opportunity for the British to encounter Japanese crafts. This event was featured by the London Illustrated News on 4 February 1854 with great acclaim. There were lacquered desks with mother-of-pearl and metal inlays, cabinets, boxes, bronze works, porcelains, textiles, prints, amongst other works. Judging from the designs illustrated in the newspaper and the date of the exhibition, the furniture was apparently Nagasaki lacquer. The design of the table with bat-shaped legs in the middle was illustrated in the book called Aogai Maki-e Hinagata Hikae (Lacquered Design Manuals, Nagasaki Aogai) published in Nagasaki in 1856. The Science and Art Department, British government body, made large purchases from these exhibits upon the recommendation of prominent critics. The International Exhibition in London, 1862, was the first major introduction of Japanese art to the West. Sir Rutherford Alcock displayed his comprehensive Japanese collection including over 600 paintings, prints, textiles, paper samples, porcelain, lacquers, bronze works at the Japanese Court. The exhibition was not as huge a commercial success as the Great Exhibition of 1851, but Japanese crafts deeply impressed some intellectuals and artists. One of these was Arthur Lasenby Liberty(1843–1917), who urged his employer, Farmer and Rogers, to buy up the unsold exhibits of Japanese crafts. His passion for Japanese art lasted for a long time and Liberty & Co., established in 1875, became the foremost stockist of Japanese crafts in Britain. Printed cotton from the Silver Studio, for Liberty department store, U.K. (1904) Japan participated officially in a world exhibition for the first time in 1867, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Their exhibits included several thousand items, such as weapons, books, paintings, prints, musical instruments, lacquers, ceramics, metal works, papers, and textiles. This extensive display made a deep impression on Parisian artists, and the mania for things Japanese spread rapidly. The influence of Japanese art was also strongly felt in the United States, although it was not so intense until the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. This fair achieved tremendous success with a total of 11.65 million visitors, and the Japanese section, displaying an enormous quantity of decorative arts, drew a huge crowd. The Illustrated Catalogue of the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876 stated: “Anything from Japan has always been looked upon with interest, because curiosities are interesting. The Japanese collection in the Main Building received a great deal of attention, and, although there was much to smile at as grotesque and outlandish, there was very much to delight the eye in the delicate and intricate workmanship.” For the first ten years or so after the reopening of Japan, the passion for Japanese art was confined to individual artists and collectors. In the 1870s, when more information and materials became available, the vogue took off in earnest and numerous Japanese style interiors were created. This trend was carried to extremes in the 1880s, particularly in England, and thousands of ordinary homes were filled with Japanese style decorative objects such as fans, umbrellas, and porcelain. British zeal for Japanese fashion was chiefly concentrated in the decorative arts, promoted by the active involvement of major industrial manufacturers, as opposed to other countries where fine arts were the main focus. Arts and Crafts – the English Immersion into Art Nouveau From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Morris design for "Trellis" wallpaper, 1862 The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. You might ask, ‘What did it influence?’ In his book “Collecting Noritake A to Z – Art Deco & More”, David Spain writes “in the first decade or so of the 20th century, leaders of the Arts and Crafts Movement, such as William Morris, … were appalled by industrialism. They worked to establish guild-like workshops that designed and produced high quality, well functioning, moderately priced, serviceable goods— typically with minimal decorative detail.” He goes on to say that this, and many other, artistic developments “neither were at the time nor are they now seen, collectively, as Art Deco”. Pgs. 9-10. Perhaps Japan; as this item bears the Noritake M-in-Wreath Nippon mark, circa 1915. Initiated as a social reaction against the perceived impoverishment of the decorative arts and the conditions in which they were produced, the movement flourished in Europe and North America between about 1880 and 1920. It was to become the artistic root of Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style) which it strongly influenced. It stood for traditional craftsmanship, and often used medieval, romantic, or folk styles of decoration It had a strong influence on the arts in Europe until it was displaced by Modernism in the 1930s, and its influence continued among craft makers, designers, and town planners long afterwards. It was inspired by the ideas of architect Augustus Pugin, writer John Ruskin, and designer William Morris. Design reform Arts and Crafts movement called for better treatment of decorative arts, believed all objects should be made beautiful and took inspiration from folklore, medieval craftsmanship and design, and nature. It is also synonymous with Modern or Glasgow Style and is a style of art that lasted from the 1880s until circa 1914. There was insistence that "style" demanded sound construction before ornamentation, and a proper awareness of the quality of materials used. "Utility must have precedence over ornamentation." It is the first Art Nouveau style worldwide. Unlike Europe, in Great Britain there was no radical break; no revolution. Artists and architects simply continued the spirit of innovation, which was the essence of Arts and Crafts with Art Nouveau being seen as a natural evolution. The British not only provided the base and intellectual background for the Art Nouveau they also played an over-sized role in its dissemination and cultivation through the Liberty department store and The Studio magazine. Developments Morris's designs quickly became popular, attracting interest when his company's work was exhibited at the 1862 International Exhibition in London. Much of Morris & Co's early work was for churches and Morris won important interior design commissions at St James's Palace and the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). Later his work became popular with the middle and upper classes and by the end of the 19th century, Arts and Crafts design in houses and domestic interiors was the dominant style in Britain. The London department store Liberty & Co., founded in 1875, was a prominent retailer of goods in the style and of the "artistic dress" favoured by followers of the Arts and Crafts movement. C.F.A. Voysey (1857–1941) was an Arts and Crafts architect who also designed fabrics, tiles, ceramics, furniture, and metalwork. His style combined simplicity with sophistication. His wallpapers and textiles, featuring stylised bird and plant forms in bold outlines with flat colors, were used widely. In the field of ceramic and glass, Christopher Dresser is a standout figure. Not only did he work with the most prominent ceramic manufacturers but became a crucial person behind James Couper & Sons trademarking of Clutha glass inspired by ancient Rome in 1888. Wave bowl ca. 1880 - Attributed to Christopher Dresser - British, Scottish This bowl, covered in a turquoise-green glaze with a yellow and green striped interior, is molded to suggest a cresting wave. Further molded with gadrooning and a band of small circles, the bowl reflects various sources upon which Christopher Dresser relied. Japanese prints strongly influenced European decorative arts in the second half of the nineteenth century. The powerful curve of Katsushika Hokusai's famous woodblock print ‘The Great Wave at Kanagawa’, which was known in the West, is echoed in the shape of this bowl. This bowl was made by the Linthorpe firm following Dresser's trip to Japan in 1876/77. While not copying Japanese prototypes, Dresser, unlike his contemporaries, abstracted key design elements that suggest Japanese aesthetics. Source - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/210899 Aubrey Beardsley was a defining person in graphic and drawing and influenced painting and style in general. In textiles William Morris and C.F.A. Voysey are of huge importance. Because of the natural stylistic evolution and the proliferation of names, i.e. Arts and Crafts, New Style and Glasgow Style to Art Nouveau, lines can be blurred or confused. For Art Nouveau architecture and furniture design, the most important centre in Britain was Glasgow, with the creations of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School, whose work was inspired by Scottish baronial architecture and Japanese design. Beginning in 1895, Mackintosh displayed his designs at international expositions in London, Vienna, and Turin. His architectural creations included the Glasgow Herald Building (1894) and the library of the Glasgow School of Art (1897). He also established a major reputation as a furniture designer and decorator, working closely with his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, a prominent painter and designer. Together they created striking designs that combined geometric straight lines with gently curving floral decoration, particularly a famous symbol of the style, the Glasgow Rose. Source: (W) Arts and Crafts. Window for the House of an Art Lover, by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1901) Embroidered panels by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1902) Mackintosh, below left, pays homage to Celtic tradition and Japanese design and its style and form were repeated numerous times by The Four, with the early examples from 1885. The first appearance of the curving, sinuous forms that came to be called Art Nouveau were soon adopted by painters Edward Burne-Jones and Aubrey Beardsley in the 1890s. They were following the advice of the art historian and critic John Ruskin, who urged artists to "go to nature" for their inspiration. Below – Left - Poster by Charles Mackintosh – Right -Tile Panel by William De Morgan In contrast, this striking tile panel was designed by William De Morgan and can be seen in Leighton House, London. The hand painted tiles together form a picture of birds and flowers in brilliant tones of blue, green and yellow. De Morgan took much inspiration from Persian designs. (W) William De Morgan. By the end of the nineteenth century, Arts and Crafts ideals had influenced architecture, painting, sculpture, graphics, illustration, book making and photography, domestic design and the decorative arts, including furniture and woodwork, stained glass, leatherwork, lacemaking, embroidery, rug making and weaving, jewelry and metalwork, enameling and ceramics. The influence of Great Britain was huge and in 1901 Jean Lahor stated that William Morris and John Ruskin were precursors to Art Nouveau. By 1910, there was a fashion for "Arts and Crafts" and all things handmade. Unfortunately, there was also a proliferation of amateur handicrafts of variable quality and of incompetent imitators who caused the public to regard Arts and Crafts as "something less, instead of more, competent and fit for purpose than an ordinary mass-produced article.” Arthur Lasenby Liberty – Art and commerce, English style “Arthur Lazenby Liberty (1843-1917) became the entrepreneur of Art Nouveau. Liberty had trained in business and, as the manager of the Farmer and Rogers Department store in Regent Street in London, soon developed a commercial centre for all kinds of art and crafts specializing in goods from the Orient. Spurred on by his success and heeding the advice of his friend William Morris, Liberty opened his own store in 1875. He initially concentrated on increasing the stock of imports from the Middle and Far East and he also designed his own collection of Oriental materials and wallpapers. His first team of employees included Hara Kitsu, a Japanese man who was to become a source of reference for English artists, craftsman and designers including Dresser and Voysey. Liberty also provided innovative stimulus with its pottery and ceramic work, and especially with its wide range of imports from Asia. Renowned English manufacturers of ceramics, such as the Royal Doulton Potteries, owed their international acclaim to Liberty’s and its brilliant sales and marketing system. Liberty was also the best promoter of Dresser’s favored Clutha glass. Liberty tried in his own way to rejuvenate the applied arts, and his success was such that the words “Liberty” and “Art Nouveau” were often used interchangeably”. Fahr-Becker. Pgs. 3942. The following two examples are indicative of Arts and Crafts and, within the context of this paper, designs that would easily be adapted to ceramics. Stained glass window by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Located in The Hill House, Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute. Source: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/58969076342087255/ William Morris. Wallpaper Sample, Compton 323, c.1917 Brooklyn Museum Siegfried Bing (1838-1905) – the French Approach Source: www.aboutartnouveaufiles.wordpress.com Posted by Olga Harmsen If I were to name one person who made Art Nouveau big in Europe, it would be Siegfried Bing (1838-1905). During his entire life, Bing gathered young artists with new ideas around him, he inspired them with Japanese art and eventually he gave them a platform to show and sell their work at the most central place in Europe; Paris! At age 17, Bing had moved from Hamburg, Germany to Paris, France to run the French branch of his family's import export business. And in 1863, together with Jean-Baptiste Ernest Leullier, Bing founded another company called ‘Leullier Fils et Bing’ which produced high quality ceramics. The French government recognized the high quality of the ceramics as the company won a gold medal at the Paris World Exposition in 1867. This gave Bing the opportunity to prove that high quality decorative art, developed together with artisans and craftsman could very well be produced in larger volumes. On the other side of the world, in 1854, Commodore Perry forced the Japanese Shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi to sign the Convention of Kanagawa, a US-Japan trade treaty, marking the end of Japan’s 200 year policy of seclusion. The Kanagawa treaty became a significant causative factor leading to serious internal conflicts within Japan – an upheaval which was only resolved in 1867 with the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. Shortly after Japan opened its doors to foreign trade a shipment of porcelain products from Japan arrived in Holland wrapped in sheets of paper. The French artist Felix Bracquemond discovered that the wrapping was pages of a copy of the Hokusai Manga, a collection of sketches of various subjects by the Japanese artist Hokusai. Subjects of the sketches included landscapes, flora and fauna, everyday life and the supernatural. Bracquemond shared the sketches, not necessarily the one below, with his artist friends in Paris including Siegfried Bing. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Shinagawa at the Tokaido (1829-1833). Collection of Japanese prints of Centre Céramique, Maastricht, the Netherlands. From Wikimedia Commons Bing was fascinated with Japanese artifacts, as well as with the design of the Hokusai prints and soon he started collecting all Japanese objects he could put his hands on. In 1876, Bing organized his first auction sale, and at the time of the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris he opened his first Gallery at 19 Rue Chauchat. Japan was well represented at the Exposition Universelle and people were crazy about Japanese art. Bing however, got intrigued by real Japanese art and left for Japan in 1880 to see for himself. He traveled through Japan for a year, buying everything he considered worth carrying. Once he returned home, he committed himself to promote Japonisme in France and in the rest of the world. Being convinced that the quality of art objects industrially produced in France was deteriorating, Bing pleaded to breathe new life into the French applied arts by embracing modern technologies, aggressive marketing and the preparedness to adopt artistic ideas from non-French cultures, and in particular from Japan. By connecting the Japanese imagination to the French tradition, Bing would realize his dream … the creation of a ‘new’ decorative style l’Art Nouveau. In order to spread the knowledge about Japanese art as widely as possible, in 1888 Bing published a magazine called ‘Le Japan Artistique’ in French, English and German. This monthly journal was distributed in 36 volumes until 1891. The journal is known to have had a great influence on artists like Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Augusta Renoir, Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Audrey Beardsley, Alphonse Mucha, Gustav Klimt and George Hendrick Breitner. This interest was not confined to artists as famous architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Renie Mackintosh and Stanford White became involved. Looking for more area’s where he could promote his Japanese art, Bing traveled to the USA in 1894 where he met Louis Comfort Tiffany. He also travelled to Brussels where he met Henry van de Velde and Victor Horta. These young artists told Bing about their new ideas to unify home interiors and Bing took their ideas for decorative arts back to Paris. He was so convinced of this new concept of ‘total style’ that he decided to transform his gallery at 22 rue de Provence into a new Gallery called Maison l’Art Nouveau (House of New Art). The new gallery was opened on 26 December 1895 and gave many young artists who were at the beginning of their career platform. Henry van de Velde designed most of the interior of the gallery while Louis Comfort Tiffany supplied stained glass windows and screens. Bing's gallery featured entire rooms designed in the Art Nouveau style including fabrics designed by William Morris and furniture by Georges de Feure. During the gallery’s most successful period, 18961902, Bing handled a wide range of artistic work, including fabrics designed by William Morris, glassware by Tiffany, jewelry, paintings, ceramics, stained glass, and furniture in the Art Nouveau style. At first, Bing’s Maison L’Art Nouveau was ridiculed in the French press. They raised questions as to why Bing did not exhibit more French artists and they judged the artists whom Bing exhibited as being not French enough. Bing was not deterred and continued to organise exhibitions. At the same time, he started his own ateliers in order to produce a unified Art Nouveau line of products. He asked Edward Colonna and George de Feure to design for his atelier, and he commissioned firms like GDA (Royal Limoges) to produce his porcelain. At the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, the pavilion known as ‘Art Nouveau Bing’ was an international success. The rooms were designed by Georges de Feure, Edward Colonna, and Eugene Gaillard, and de Feure also designed most of the fabrics and decorative objects. Bing's activities were important, perhaps crucial to the Japanese influence on Art Nouveau. Above all, Japanese art was inspired by nature. Other characteristics of Japanese art, like asymmetry and irregularity, influenced all the above and more European painters and architects. Japanese style elements such as off-centred arrangements without perspective, light without shadows, and vibrant colours on plain surfaces were also adopted by the applied arts, from furniture, textiles, and jewelry to graphic design. With over 50 million people attending the Exposition, the movement's artists gained a wide audience. However, just as Japanism produced increased demand for ‘everything Japanese or exotic’, resulting in a lowering of manufacturing and design standards to meet this demand, predictably, explosive demand for Art Nouveau resulted in the faltering of the originality and artistic care which was so important to a sustainable artistic movement. Bing died on 6 September 1905, and in a way this was not only the end of his gallery L’ Art Nouveau, it was also the end of Art Nouveau in an absolute sense … because Art Nouveau developed simultaneously over a large geographical area there are considerable differences between the local varieties. It is worth repeating, however, the motifs and patterns based upon flora and fauna are usually long stemmed, gracefully stylized plants and flowers - such as lilies, callas, irises, poppies, rosebuds – swans, peacocks, dragon flies, egg shapes, clouds, water and slender female figures with long hair and long flowing dresses. Some go as far as to suggest the essence of Art Nouveau style (1895-1910) is the naturalistic sensuous lines derived from vegetal curves and willow leaves, subtle light, feminine figures and curly hair, fluent dresses and attitudes, twisting waves and evanescent smoke, but also by controlled lines, geometric details, colorful new shapes, for example the Creative Muse. (W) The Arts – Dance by A. Mucha. 1896 The flat-perspective and strong colours of Japanese woodcuts, especially those of Katsushika Hokusai, had a strong effect on Art Nouveau. The wave of Japonisme that swept through Europe in the 1880s and 1890s was particularly influential on many artists with its organic forms, reference to the natural world, and clear designs that contrasted strongly with the reigning tastes. Besides being adopted by artists like Emile Galle and James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Japanese inspired art and design was championed by the businessmen Siegfried Bing and Arthur Lasenby Liberty at their stores in Paris and London, respectively. So just as the tide of Japanism swept through the art world as the sun set on the Nineteenth century; the Twentieth century saw the dawn and rising of the tide of Art Nouveau. Both passed but did they really? A Second Opinion To provide a ‘second opinion’ on Bing and his impact on Art Nouveau, I have included a pared down version of the following article as it presents a unique and modern perspective of Siegfried Bing and his impact and legacy in the art world. ANTIQUES: An Art Nouveau Innovator Gets His Due - BY Rita Reif. Sept. 21, 1986. Credit...The New York Times Archives. See the article in its original context from September 21, 1986, Section 2, Page 34. New York Times subscribers enjoy full access to Times Machine—view over 150 years of New York Times journalism, as it originally appeared. Siegfried Bing, a pioneering art dealer at the turn of the century, did more to advance Art Nouveau in Paris than any other person. The style's name derives from his shop, L'Art Nouveau, an artists' haunt that was ignored by the art establishment throughout its existence, from 1895 to 1904. Until now, however, Bing's role as a merchant, manufacturer and promoter of Art Nouveau has never been fully defined. Even his first name is usually misstated as Samuel. Siegfried Bing was born in Hamburg in 1838, the son of Jacob Bing, an importer and producer of porcelains and glass. At 25, he succeeded his father as the head of their French manufacturing operations and moved to Paris where he eventually reshaped the family business into a combination of stores and workshops. Newspaper reports of his death cite his merchandising of Japanese articles but ignore his support of the Art Nouveau movement. The reports also confused Siegfried with his brother Samuel who, coincidentally, died the same month that he did September 1905. The current exhibition corrects his name and documents his contribution to the Art Nouveau movement, presenting excellent prints and minor works from the period against handsome backgrounds of graphics and blown-up photographs that show Bing's galleries and ateliers. But a show that opened here last week at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts goes a long way to rectify this situation. The exhibition, ''Art Nouveau Bing: Paris Style 1900,'' organized by Gabriel P. Weisberg, professor of art history at the University of Minnesota, will run through Nov. 23. It then travels under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, to the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Fla., the Jocelyn Art Museum in Omaha and the CooperHewitt Museum in New York. In the lavishly illustrated catalogue, published by Harry N. Abrams ($27.50), Dr. Weisberg writes that Bing came earlier than most to Japanese art and artifacts, which had a major influence on the Art Nouveau style. By the 1870's he was a dedicated collector of woodcuts, lacquer wares and ceramics, and in 1880 he made his first trip to the Far East. The bounty of Chinese and Japanese art and artifacts he brought back filled two Paris shops, attracting artists and collectors. The exhibition presents a handful of the 19th-century Japanese wares among the 200 works that Bing handled at his L'Art Nouveau shop or at the Paris Exposition Universelle Internationale of 1900. There his pavilion was called Art Nouveau Bing, a name he also used as a manufacturer. The museum displays of Art Nouveau works include Louis Comfort Tiffany's glass vases, Henry Van de Velde's brass hardware, Edward Colonna's jewelry, Edouard Vuillard's porcelain plates and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's brilliantly colored design for a stained-glass window. Among the finest other works on view are Edvard Munch's woodcuts ''Madonna,'' and the ''The Scream,'' both of which were part of Bing's Munch exhibition in 1896. Further research may eventually prove conclusively that Bing's stock was limited to the type of restrained objects that are presented in this exhibition. Dr. Weisberg said that Bing probably never sold any of the more exuberant Art Nouveau masterpieces that have become key pieces in exhibitions of this period and that dominate in the spectacular turn-of-the-century works collected by Sydney and Frances Lewis on view elsewhere in this museum. Bing detested the florid style thriving in Nancy - the major center of Art Nouveau - the art scholar explained, and his selections reflect that bias. Dr. Weisberg's research uncovered understated examples of Rene Lalique's jewelry, and of Tiffany's glass, but none of the flamboyant works of these designers nor of such other giants as Hector Guimard, Emile Galle and Louis Majorelle. The furniture, jewelry, textiles and porcelains that Bing produced in his ateliers are coolly elegant works designed by Georges de Feure, Colonna and Eugene Gaillard. Chairs and tables stand on straight legs with vines and leaves carved in their surfaces. Classically shaped vases are embellished with trees and flowers. Asymmetrical shaping is the exception, not the rule, which makes Bing's productions seem closer in spirit to the delicate Japanese ceramics and lacquer wares he helped popularize in the 1880's, than to the most expressive examples of Art Nouveau. Emile Gallé (1846-1904) – the Naturalistic Artist – Source Seiji Yamauchi Emile Galle was the most important artist pursuing the naturalistic art and he became the dominant figure in the Art Nouveau movement. Emile Gallé was born in Nancy, France. His family managed a glass and earthenware factory, the Maison Gallé-Reinemer which was established in 1844 by a union between his father Charles Gallé (1818-1902), a traveling porcelain tradesman (and trained porcelain painter by using enamele) and his mother Fanny Reinemer (1825-1891), daughter of Marguerite and Jean Martin Reinemer, the owners of a crystal and porcelain shop in Nancy. From 1866–7 he was employed by the Burgun, Schwerer & Cie glassworks in Meisenthal, France and learned the trades of glass and ceramics. Here he developed his knowledge of glass chemistry. His approach is not merely theoretical, and Emile was not afraid to learn to blow the glass. On his return to Nancy in 1870 he worked in his father's workshops at Saint-Clément where he designed a rustic dinner service with Victor Prouvé. In 1871 he travelled to London to represent the family firm at the International Exhibition of 1871. During his stay he visited the decorative arts collections at the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum), familiarizing himself with Chinese, Japanese and Islamic styles. He was particularly impressed with the Islamic enamelled ware, which influenced his early work. He also visited the Botanical Gardens and learned exotic plants. In 1874, after his father's retirement, he took over the running of the Maison Gallé-Reinemer and immediately began to expand the business, proving himself an outstanding businessman as well as a genius of design. Vase in 1885. Glazed Earthenware. H: 28.6cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art. He participated in the Paris Exhibition of 1878 and won four gold medals. His creations were exhibited at the great exhibitions and world fairs in Paris, Chicago and Saint Louis and were keenly collected by the most notable collectors of the day including Roger Marx, the editor of Gazette des beaux-arts, the industrialist Edouard Hannon, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Russian and Danish royal families (Carboni, S., and D. Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans, New York, 2001, p.299). In 1883 he enlarged his workshops of pottery, glassware and woodwork and many artists and craftsmen began to work for him. He opened more outlets and regularly exhibited his own works. In 1884 he participated in the Exhibition at Paris and he won gold medals for his glassworks, wood cabinets, earthenwares and stonewares respectively. At the Paris Exhibition of 1889 Gallé was awared Grand Prix for his glass works, a gold medal for his ceramics works and a silver medal for his furniture works and reached international fame. Around 1892 Gallé limited the production of ceramics for economic reasons. His style, with its emphasis on naturalism and floral motifs, was at the forefront of the emerging Art Nouveau movement. At this stage about three hundred artists and craftsmen were working for him. In 1894 he opened his new glass factory and participated in the exhibition of decorative art of Nancy. Faience Branch and Moon-vase form, circa 1890. Underside with red printed E. Croix de Lorraine, G/depose, Nancy. H. 11 inches. Sold at $6000 in Dec. 2008. Sotherby’s. Vase Showing a Landscape with a Lake. Manufactory of Emile Galle, France, Nancy. Circa 1904. Four-layered glass: colourless, yellow, light blue and brown; mould-blown, etched, partially engraved, with matted ground and inside surface. H: 61.8cm, diam: 19cm. Hermitage Museum. In 1901 he created the School of Nancy with Victor Prouvé, Louis Majorelle, Antonin Daum and Eugene Vallin and he became its chairman. On 23 September 1904 he died of leukemia at the age of 58. Many of Gallé works are kept at the Musée de l'École de Nancy. Vase with an Alpine Landscape Manufactory of Emile Galle, France, Nancy. Between 1907 and 1914. Three-layered glass: colourless, light blue and brown; mould-blown, etched, with matted ground and inside surface, polished. H: 36.3 cm, diam: 9.7 cm. Hermitage Museum. Daum Frères – Source: Seiji Yamauchi The world-famous manufacturer, which still exists today under the name "Cristallerie Daum", was founded in 1875 as "Verrerie de Nancy". The manufacture was taken over in 1887 by the two sons Auguste (1853-1909) and Antonin Daum (1864-1930), the latter taking over the artistic direction. The Daum workshop formed some of the great names in Art Nouveau: Jacques Gruber (from 1893 to 1897), Henri Bergé (from 1900), Almaric Walter and Charles Schneider made their debut there. These men could not use their own name. All the vases were signed Daum. This is the reason why the factory continued to produce high quality glass. Paysage de Verre Vase by Daum Freres, circa 1910. They intended to assemble a creative and esteemed team of designers, artists and artisans to produce colored glass in a naturalistic style similar to Gallé's. Antonin Daum began to embellish tableware by using his familiar techniques of making glass and he planned to change the commodity production to the artistic creation. Between 1889 to 1891 two brothers prepared the creation of the art department that would be entrusted to Antonin. While Auguste managed the administrative and financial needs, Antonin, a trained engineer, oversaw production and a team of skilled artists. Auguste Daum was a close friend of the scientist Georges Le Monnier who helped them. In 1891 followed the founding of the "Ateliers d'Art à la Verrerie de Nancy" which had apprentice workshops for glass technicians, polishers, etchers, painters and gilders. Antonin began to make some simple models with acid etching and then moved to more complicate models using the techniques of wheel engraving on multi-layered glass. Starting with enamelled and engraved "art nouveau" style vases, they moved on to become one of the major forces in the Art Nouveau movement, seriously rivalling Emile Galle. The team created pieces with Japanese inspiration, using asymmetric, organic forms with subtle colors. The factory also incorporated newly developed techniques into their production of chandeliers, lamps, vases, and other art objects in innovative and creative ways. From 1890 to 1914, Daum Frères created no less than 3000 products. Bowl by Daum, 1902. Enamelled Woodland Landscape Vase, Circa 1900. Internally mottled glass acid-etched in relief and hand-painted. Enamelled DAUM NANCY with the Cross of Lorraine. W: 18cm. Sold at GBP 3,000 in November 2010, Christie's. Vase by Daum, circa 1913. Landscape with a Lake. Hermitage Museum. Danish Art Nouveau - The Royal Danish Porcelain Factory At the end of the 19th century, following the discovery of Japanese pottery, Europe was engulfed by a wave of enthusiasm for the ceramic heart of the Far East. The 18th century’s love of chinoiserie gave way to the preference for the china of the T’ang and Sung dynasties and then appreciation for undecorated ware, simple forms and harmonious glazes. The description of chien yao, Japanese tea bowls produced in China, could be applied word forward to the porcelain produced by the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory in Copenhagen. The purchase of the Copenhagen factory by Phillip Schou in 1882 marked the beginning of its rise to stardom. The Danish architect and painter Emil Arnold Krog (1856- 1931), employed for the factory since 1884 and appointed its artistic director in 1891, created an entirely new type of porcelain decoration which was unmistakably influenced by Japanese colour woodcuts. While the decoration he executed in this complicated technique was derived from the Danish flora and fauna, its stylization and composition on the body of the object was Japanese in origin. Among the many designers working for the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory - truly the king of its field - was Gotfred Rode (1862-1937) whose designs pointed the way forward into the next century. Fahr-Becker. Pgs. 305-306. Porcelain, underglaze painting, 43 cm. high. Made by Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik, Copenhagen. Many of the decorative schemes employed on vases such as this one, reflect Japanese influences in their stylization and their skillful distribution across the body of the vessel. Gotfred Rode Vase, 1898. American Art Nouveau - Louis Comfort Tiffany Main article (W): Art Nouveau In the United States, the firm of Louis Comfort Tiffany played a central role in American Art Nouveau. Born in 1848, he studied at the National Academy of Design in New York, began working with glass at the age of 24, entered the family business started by his father, and in 1885 set up his own enterprise. In 1893, he began making glass vases and bowls, again developing new techniques that allowed more original shapes and colouring. Layers of glass were printed, marbled and superimposed, giving an exceptional richness and variety of colour. In 1895 his new works were featured in the Art Nouveau gallery of Siegfried Bing, giving him a new European clientele. After the death of his father in 1902, he took over the entire Tiffany enterprise, but still devoted much of his time to designing and manufacturing glass art objects. At the urging of Thomas Edison, he began to manufacture electric lamps with multicoloured glass shades in structures of bronze and iron. A team of designers and craftsmen worked on each product. The Tiffany lamp in particular became one of the icons of the Art Nouveau, but Tiffany's craftsmen (and craftswomen) designed and made extraordinary windows, vases, and other glass art. Tiffany's glass also had great success at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris; his stained glass window called the Flight of Souls won a gold medal. “The number of Tiffany imitators is countless; many of his pupils set up business on their own including Martin Bach and Thomas Johnson, produces of ‘cuetzal’ glass, so called after a Central American bird with shimmering plumage. Influenced by Tiffany, the Steuben Glass Works in Corning, NY produced decorative glasses with a lustre effect. Joseph Webb, working for the Phoenix Glass Company was highly successful with his ‘pearl satin glass’ which he later patented. In his elegant showrooms, Tiffany showed, alongside his own pieces, ceramics by the Rockwood Pottery in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was particularly successful with pieces combining a floral silver casting over a base decorated in slip painting in Japanese style. Like a true Art Nouveau artist, Tiffany also produced his own total work of art. In his home on Oyster Bay, the “non-architect” translated all his knowledge of art into reality. The house was laid out like a seraglio with gardens, inner courtyards, fountains and an endless succession of stained glass: the Arabian nights in New York”. Gabriele Fahr-Becker. “Art Nouveau” Tandem Verlag GmbH - h.f. ullmann publishing, Potsdam, Germany. 2010. Pg. 320-323. Another important figure in American Art Nouveau was the architect Louis Sullivan. Sullivan was a leading pioneer of American modern architecture. He was the founder of the Chicago School, the architect of some of the first skyscrapers, and the teacher of Frank Lloyd Wright. These are but a few examples of the many approaches to Art Nouveau. As Carol Grafton puts it “Art Nouveau might be difficult to define concisely but it isn't hard to describe. Sinuous, long and flowing lines and curves; a fascination with adapting natural forms, plants and animals of all kinds … for stylized and decorative purposes; obsession with the female form and a new freedom in working with interpretations of that form. Above all, Art Nouveau meant elegance and energy and precision in the way anything and everything was presented”; be it decorative art, geometric and other patterns, textile and wallpaper designs, jewelry, tiles, stained glass or ceramics, to name but a few. Carol Belanger Grafton. Art Nouveau – The Essential Reference. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola, New York. 2015. Pg. iii.