We continue publications of the virtual album devoted to GALSS ART of the end of the XIXth - the first third of the XXth centuries. We submit to your attention the digest of the development of two prominent art styles - the Art Nouveau and Art Deco, published in the subsection Western European Glass Art and Ceramics.

"The Western European art of glassblowing belonging to the period of a turn of the 19-20th centuries is important and many-sided phenomenon which exerted a great influence on formation of visual esthetics of a new century. The period of its flourishing coincided with the period of domination of Art Nouveau and the subsequent Art Deco styles.

France became the center of art glass production. French glass manufacturing endures unprecedented growth from the last quarter of the 19th century until the 1930s years. Technological innovations, new stylistic findings, use of various technics and, the major aspect, inventions of such talented masters of glass art as Anri Cros, François Décorchemont, Argy-Rousseau, Emil Gallé, Brothers Daum, René Lalique, who worked during this period, have turned France into the fashion setter in colour and colourless glass.

The Art Nouveau style was embodied most brightly in art glass. It disclosed such qualities of material as weight, texture, color and light. The floral ornament, which was quite often merging with the object base, gained particular importance.

Emile Galle who created specific “Nature style” in colour multilayer glass exerted fundamental impact on Art Nouveau glass development in France. His works were imitated by many manufactories (Brothers Daum, Legras & Cie, Burgun, Schverer & Cie), copying directly, processing the decor or working following his sketches. However, this never deprived them of their creative impulse. Being guided by "Galle's style",  preserving art principles, established by the master, manufactories quite often developed their own glass processing technologies. All this promoted creation of works, which were original in form and decorative decisions. Those works complied with the general concept of the Art Nouveau harmoniously.

The subsequent plastic achievements in art glass were demonstrated during Art Deco era. Traditionally chronological framework of Art Deco defines the 1920s – the beginning of the 1930th years. Nevertheless, according to the famous researcher of the style T. G. Malinina, its emergence can be observed since 1908 – 1912. It was the time when "… The Art Nouveau breaks up and, like fireworks, throws out a set of the ideas beginning to be implemented and develop independently …. The border of the style cycle end is defined conditionally because fading of the style happened gradually, until the end of World War II".

Artists-glassmakers who worked at that time - René Lalique, M. Marino, G. Argy-Rousseau, F. Décorchemont brought a unique author's insight in Art Deco glass.

Applying and processing Art Nouveau motives and technicians, considering the newest art directions of an era, they release the original, corresponding to new esthetics objects, that possess a special harmony, elegance, sometimes even severity differing in use of the courageous flowers, simplified, sometimes reaching abstraction of decors and a variety of forms".

The article is published in subsection “Western European Glass Art and Ceramics”:
http://collection-museum.com/en/collection/decorative-arts/art-glass/european-glass-and-ceramics/

Virtual Album, part 3: