Émile Gallé was a celebrated French designer and pioneer in technical innovations in glass. He was a leading initiator of the Art Nouveau style and of the modern renaissance of French art glass.
Background
Emile Galle was born in Nancy on May 4, 1846. His full name was Emile Charles Martin Galle. His father, Charles Galle, was owner of a factory of mirrors that subsequently expanded, devoting an important part of its production to the ceramic pieces. Man characterized by a great culture and an interest in all fields of knowledge, the figure of Charles was very important in the formation of the artistic sensitivity of Émile; proof of this was the large number of trips carried out abroad together with the sole purpose of deepening their knowledge, covering areas as diverse as the characteristic of the decorative arts or Botany.
Education
Until the age of 15 Émile Gallé studied at the Institute in his hometown, protected by his father studies covering the practice of drawing, and began in the knowledge of the plant world, which subsequently suggested all kinds of brilliant designs. It's this moment where date back to his early work: floral designs for paternal workshop that shows both its validity for the drawing and its innate ease to perceive the sinuosity which transmitted you his botanical observations. Between 1862 and 1868 he moved to Weimar, where he made a series of studies of the most varied kind: sculpture, drawing, zoology, philosophy, biology and music. In addition, he continued reading the Bible in correspondence with the rigid Protestantism which was educated daily.
Career
Émile Gallé moved to Meisenthal (Saar) in 1866, where he joined Scheverer & Co., producer of the Burgun glassware factory. The four years that elapsed during their stay at Meisenthal served to predict that after the figure of Gallé an artist was with ability to revolutionize artistic glass production both to technical and formal level. For this reason, in 1870 was responsible for the family workshop, where was able to put into practice all its experiments and revolutionize the decorative arts of his time. At this time began his relationship with the painter Victor Prouvé, which in addition to collaborate with the company, bequeathed a portrait of the revolutionary French glassmaker in which this is absorbed one of his creations.
In the wake of the Franco-German war, Gallé was mobilized. After the conflict he lost contact with the workshop of Meisenthal. 1870 was a decisive date in his biography: together with his father Gallé began a journey that took him to Paris and London; the Louvre, both in the South Kensington Museum and the National Museum, Gallé was impressed by ancient glasses produced by cultures of the far East (especially the Japanese). They also took to visiting the Botanical Garden in London, visit of such importance for their subsequent production as the previous ones.
Four years of returning to the parental workshop, it dealt with the artistic direction of this. His productions, both the first glass to the rear also covering the production of furniture, were displayed with great success and awarded at the universal exhibition of 1878, 1889, and 1900. In 1884 he expanded his artistic world of cabinetmaking, but from his personal perspective, both technical and formal. The success was such that two years later he already had a factory that was dedicated to this type of production. Their latest designs correspond to the year prior to his death, 1903, although the factory continued producing and marketing their works until its final closure in 1935.
Man of deep concerns, he was part of several art societies: in 1890 he was appointed member of the Stanislas Academy of Nancy, and the following year member of the national society of fine arts of Paris. In 1894 he founded the Lorraine society of decorative arts initiative in his hometown, but the institution he founded, sponsored and exerted more influence on the dissemination of aesthetics modernist was known as the school of Nancy (1901).
Emile Gallé was characterized by the multiplicity of techniques applied in the world of decorative arts, both in glass-making and in cabinetmaking, and magical qualities of his decorative universe: animal or vegetable formations always according to a last feature, the search for the absolute beauty. To do this, Gallé moved into an ambiguous artistic ground whose boundaries were the symbolism and Art Nouveau. In the part of the most famous and recognized, its speakers glass production, Gallé incorporated from flower and plant motifs to verses of significant poets Symbolist Stephane Mallarmé and Charles Baudelaire.
His techniques were known in detail since who published his experiments in the book noted on the production of glass. As mentioned Steineer in reference to the manual, the hollow glass covered with a layer of glass colored opalescent dipping the glass into a melting pot. After the blowing process, the layers of color overlap, producing beautiful effects. This work is complemented by a rich ornamentation through the Burin; used as a drawing, it displayed a beautiful range of different reasons. Other methods used were the resource engraving using acid and known as intercalair or glasses of fine Bill marquetry.
As for his achievements in the field of cabinetmaking, the French artist was characterized by its use of Woods, which were carved according to their complicated designs and enriched with fantastic applications. Much of their production can be admired in the Museum of the school of Nancy or the Musée d'Orsay (Paris). He died in 1904, in Nancy, and his wife took over the running of the business until 1914, when war broke out.
What is less well-known is Gallé's social engagement. He was a convinced humanist, and was involved in organizing evening schools for the working class. He was treasurer of the Nancy branch of the Human Rights League of France and in 1898, at great risk for his business, one of the first to become actively involved in the defence of Alfred Dreyfus. He also publicly defended the Romanian Jews and spoke up in defence of the Irish Catholics against Britain, supporting William O’Brien, one of the leaders of the Irish revolt.
Membership
In 1890 he was appointed member of the Stanislas Academy of Nancy, and the following year member of the national society of fine arts of Paris. In 1894 he founded the Lorraine society of decorative arts initiative in his hometown, but the institution he founded, sponsored and exerted more influence on the dissemination of aesthetics modernist was known as the school of Nancy (1901).