'Lacquer is not a fashion but a passion in Paris'

Dr Elisabeth Darby

LECTURE SYNOPSIS

European interest in lacquer has a long history but in Paris, from the early years of the twentieth century, enthusiasm for the material attained new heights as several artists experimented with, and mastered, the technique.  This renewed passion for lacquer coincided with the emergence of the French Art Deco style which reached its apogee in L’Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris in 1925 and at which lacquer work figured prominently.  The material’s lustrous surface, its potential for varied textural and decorative treatments, together with the high level of skilled craftsmanship demanded for its creation, contributed to lacquer’s luxury status and encapsulated Art Deco. 

This lecture will examine the use of lacquer in furniture by leading figures working in Paris from c.1910 to c.1935.  It will focus on the contrasting working methods, approaches and visual characteristics in the lacquer designs of Jean Dunand and Eileen Gray. Other artists, including Armand-Albert Rateau and Elizabeth Eyre de Lanux, will form part of the discussion. An analysis of the lacquer work of these figures collectively illustrates the individualism, multiple influences and stylistic richness of French Art Deco.  However, Eileen Gray’s engagement with lacquer also hints at the beginning of a reaction against this luxurious style and the emergence of a more austere Modernism in France, also evident at the Paris 1925 exhibition.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Elisabeth Darby lectures on 19th, 20th and 21st century decorative arts and design at the Victoria and Albert Museum and elsewhere, and was formerly Programme Director of the MA in Contemporary Design at Sotheby’s Institute of Art.  She has written articles on design and sculpture and her most recent book, Re-Issue, Re-Imagine, Re-Make: Appropriation in Contemporary Furniture Design, was published by Lund Humphries in 2020.

Jean Goulden & Jean Dunand, Commode, lacquer, 1921 (Lferreira, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)