René Lalique

René Jules Lalique (6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks and automobile hood ornaments.[1][2][3][4]

René Lalique
Born(1860-04-06)6 April 1860
Aÿ, Marne, France
Died1 May 1945(1945-05-01) (aged 85)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
Alma materCollège Turgot, Ecole des arts décoratifs, Crystal Palace School of Art
Occupationglass designer
Known forGlass art
Spouse(s)Marie-Louise Lambert
Alice Ledru (1870–1909), second wife
ChildrenMarc Lalique
Augustine-Alice Ledru René-Claude Le Mesnil
Raymond Anère
Georgette-Renée Lalique
Suzanne Lalique-Haviland
Renée Anère

Life

Lalique's early life was spent learning the methods of design and art he would use in his later life. At the age of two, his family moved to the suburbs of Paris, but traveled to Ay for summer holidays. These trips influenced Lalique later on in his naturalistic glasswork. With the death of his father two years later, Lalique began working as an apprentice to goldsmith Louis Aucoc in Paris. He died on 1 May 1945, Paris. René Lalique was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. His granddaughter, Marie Claude-Lalique (b. 1936), was also a glass maker. She died on 14 April 2003 in Fort Myers, Florida.[2]

Education

In 1872, when he was twelve, he entered the Collège Turgot where he started drawing and sketching. He attended evening classes at the Ecole des arts décoratifs. He worked there from 1874–1876 and subsequently spent two years at the Crystal Palace School of Art Sydenham, London. During that time, he also practiced as an apprentice goldsmith to leading Parisian Art Nouveau jeweller and goldsmith Louis Aucoc. At the Sydenham Art College, his skills for graphic design were improved, and his naturalistic approach to art was further developed.[2]

Art Nouveau jewellery designer

When he returned from England, he worked as a freelance artist, designing pieces of jewellery for French jewelers Cartier, Boucheron, and others. In 1885, he opened his own business and designed and made his own jewellery and other glass pieces. After 1895, Lalique also created pieces for Samuel Bing's Paris shop, the Maison de l'Art Nouveau, which gave Art Nouveau its name. One of Lalique's major patrons was Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, who commissioned more than 140 of his works over nearly 30 years.[5]

Glass maker

Lalique was best known for his creations in glass art.[1] In the 1920s, he became noted for his work in the Art Deco style. He was responsible for the walls of lighted glass and elegant coloured glass columns which filled the dining room and "grand salon" of the SS Normandie and the interior fittings, cross, screens, reredos and font of St. Matthew's Church at Millbrook in Jersey (Lalique's "Glass Church").[6] His earlier experiences in Ay were his defining influence in his later work. As a result, many of his jewellery pieces and vases showcase plants, flowers and flowing lines.

Both unique and commercial works of René Lalique are in the collections of a large number of public museums around the world including the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, the Lalique museum of Hakone in Japan, the Musée Lalique and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in France, the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim in Germany, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum and the Corning Museum in New York State,and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.[2]

Works

See also

References
  1. Warmus, William (2003). The essential René Lalique. New York: Wonderland Press: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 9780810958364.
  2. "Rene Lalique - A Giant Among Giants". rlalique.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  3. "René Lalique: Enchanted by Glass". Corning Museum of Glass. Corning Museum of Glass. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  4. "Lalique, more than a name". Musée Lalique. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  5. Yager, Jan (1998). "Patrons who make history" (PDF). Art Jewelry Forum (4). Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  6. Jane Ashelford, 1980, "Lalique's Glass Church," The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society, Vol. 4, pp. 28–33.
  7. "'Dragonfly' Broach". Museu Calouste Gulbenkian. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

Bibliography
  • Bayer, Patricia & Waller, Mark: The Art of René Lalique, Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, London 1988 ISBN 0-7475-0182-3
  • Dawes, Nicholas M.: Lalique Glass, Crown Publishers, London 1986 ISBN 978-0-517-55835-5
  • Elliott, Kelley J. René Lalique: Enchanted by Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York 2014. ISBN 978-0-300-20511-4
  • Weiner, Geoffrey George Unique Lalique Mascots, The Book Guild Ltd., Brighton 2014 ISBN 978-1909-984219
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