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René Lalique

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René Jules Lalique (Template:IPA; 6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945)<ref name=rlalique /><ref name="bnf">Template:BNF</ref> was a French jeweller, medallist,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments.<ref name=warmus>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=rlalique>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=cmog>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Life

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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 Aÿ for summer holidays. These trips influenced Lalique later on in his naturalistic glasswork. With the death of his father, Lalique began working as an apprentice to goldsmith Louis Aucoc in Paris. Lalique died on 1 May or 5 May 1945, in Paris. René Lalique was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. His daughter Suzanne Lalique was the painter and set designer for the Comédie-Française. His son Marc Lalique continued the family business as a glass artist himself. It was under his impetus that the Maison Lalique began its transition from glass to crystal in the early 1950s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Marc's daughter, Marie Claude-Lalique (b. 1936), was also a glass maker who died on 14 April 2003 in Fort Myers, Florida.<ref name=rlalique /><ref name="bnf"/>

Education

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In 1872, when he was twelve, René 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 to 1876 and subsequently spent two years at the Crystal Palace School of Art Sydenham, London. During that time, he also practised 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.<ref name=rlalique />

In 1876, at 16, René Lalique was apprenticed to the jeweler Louis Aucoc.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Aucoc was among the leading jewelers working in Paris at the time, and this provided the young René Lalique with an excellent opportunity to learn jewelry production and design. During this time, Lalique also studied at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. By 1881, Lalique worked as a freelance designer for several French jewelry firms, including Cartier and Boucheron. In 1886, he started working in his workshop in Paris, in the former workshop of Jules Destape. In 1890, René Lalique opened a jewelry store in the Opéra district of Paris. While working in this new shop, some of René Lalique's most famous jewelry designs were created, as well as his experimentation and use of glass. The main motif of Lalique's jewelry design was the natural world. His designs often featured motifs such as dragonflies, orchids, and peacocks, crafted using a combination of enamel, gemstones, and semi-precious materials.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Lalique surrounded himself at work with flowers to serve as subtle inspiration for his art.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> These motifs symbolized the organic flow of life, metamorphosis, and beauty in motion. He was influenced not only by the nature of the French countryside but also by the motifs of Japanese nature art. And he incorporated many materials into his jewelry that were not widely used in high-end jewelry in his time, including glass, horn, pearl, semi-precious stones, enamel, and ivory. He used typical period gemstones only for artistic appearance and not for their value. Therefore, his Lalique jewelry creations were not just holders of precious stones, they were works of art in their own right, creating worldwide interest and great demand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Art Nouveau jewellery designer

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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, 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.<ref name="Yager">Template:Cite news</ref> Many of these works can be seen on permanent display at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Portugal.

Glass maker

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Lalique was best known for his creations in glass art.<ref name=warmus /> 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 Template:SS and the interior fittings, cross, screens, reredos and font of St. Matthew's Church at Millbrook in Jersey (Lalique's "Glass Church").<ref>Jane Ashelford, 1980, "Lalique's Glass Church," The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society, Vol. 4, pp. 28–33.</ref> As part of the Art Nouveau style, many of his jewellery pieces and vases showcase plants, flowers and flowing lines.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 1907, Lalique began collaborating with François Coty to design luxury perfume bottles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He eventually created hundreds of different models, many of which became iconic, for companies such as Guerlain, Houbigant, Worth, Rogeret et Gallet, D'Orsay, Forvil, and Worth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lalique was also a pioneer in the use of 'pâte-de-verre,' an ancient glassworking technique, which he used to mold ground glass into intricate, lifelike forms in both jewelry and decorative objects.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

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 Template:Ill and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in France, the Template:Ill 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.<ref name=rlalique />

Works

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See also

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References

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Bibliography

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  • Bayer, Patricia & Waller, Mark: The Art of René Lalique, Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, London 1988 Template:ISBN
  • Dawes, Nicholas M.: Lalique Glass, Crown Publishers, London 1986 Template:ISBN
  • Elliott, Kelley J. René Lalique: Enchanted by Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York 2014. Template:ISBN
  • Weiner, Geoffrey George Unique Lalique Mascots, The Book Guild Ltd., Brighton 2014 Template:ISBN
  • Weiner, Geoffrey George Unique Lalique Mascots, Grosvenor House Publishing Co.2020 Template:ISBN
  • Weiner, Geoffrey George Catalogue Raisonne, The Definitive Collector's Guide to Lalique Automobile Mascots (Decorative Hood Ornaments) published in January 2025 (ISBN / 978-1-80381-886-3)

"Lalique Mascots - Catalogue Raisonné (or critical catalogue) The Automotive Radiator Hood, Desk Ornaments, Trophies and Bookends of master glass artisan R. Lalique (including auction realisation prices with market values guide" by G.G. Weiner., i.a.m, o.t.r, c.s.m.a. Bi-lingual with both English and French captions. ISBN 978-1-80381-886-3 (in oversize A3 format).

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