René Lalique. Bijoux d'exception 1890-1912

The innovative genius of French artist René Lalique (1860-1945), also known as the inventor of modern jewellery", is fully explored and documented in this striking volume which features one hundred and fifty extraordinary objects created by the master jeweller.
Symbols of the very idea of art nouveau, René Lalique's creations did not limit themselves simply to effecting a stylistic renewal of jewellery. Indeed, thanks to the inclusion of new techniques, the bonding of materials hitherto used very little and the invention of a vast iconographic repertoire, as original in the subjects explored as in the treatment of forms, Lalique developed a unique form of art somewhere between applied arts, poetry, painting and literature. His jewels continue to fascinate thanks to their power to evoke and to their highly accomplished execution. They reflect the remarkable personality of a sensitive, cultured man, admired by his contemporaries and fully immersed in his period, marked by a great political, scientific, cultural and social effervescence.
This volume highlights the technical and poetic contribution of Lalique through a comparison with the creations of such contemporaries as Henri Vever Georges Fouquet, Lucien et Alix Falize, Georges de Feure. It examines Lalique's creative process, from the inspiration of the motif to the execution, through the presentation of a selection of decorative works that inspired him, photographs taken by him, preparatory sketches and life-size studies preceding the creation of a jewel. And illustrates the origins and influences to have left their mark on Lalique: Japanese prints (Hokusai), symbolist painting (Edvard Munch, Fernard Knoff, Maurice Denis), Renissance-style goldmsith's work and jewels (Aldophe Fouquet, Lucien Falize). The authors also contextualise the work as regards the creative arts of the time (theatre, literature, music, the glass industry) and the special relationship Lalique had with some of his contemporaries, such as actress Sarah Bernhardt and Emile Gallé, the glassmaker.
Through 150 creations-jewellery, glassware, accessories, photographs, paintings, designs for clothes- culled from prestigious public and private collections, and authoritative essays, this monograph will illuminate the full range of the craftsman who overturned tradition and succeeded in creating true manifestos for art nouveau during his lifetime.