About this product
Louis Chalon (1866- 1940)
Born in Paris, he studied with Jules Lefevre and Boulanger, and exhibited vast classically inspired paintings in the Salons of the Societe des Artistes Francais where he was awarded an Honorable Mention in 1885, another one in 1898, a Third Class Medal in 1891 and an Honorable Mention at the Expositions Universelles of 1889 and 1900.
He supplied many illustrations to the periodicals La Vie Parisienne, L’Illustration and Figaro Illustre, as well as illustrating several books, including works by Rabelais, Bobbaccio, and Balzac.
Louis Chalon also worked as a goldsmith and silversmith and executed some sumptuous costumes. While experimenting with painted wax figures in 1898 he discovered the pleasures of sculpture, to which he was to devote much of the rest of his life. Many of his subjects are mythological, while many of his female subjects are femme-fleurs, women symbolizing flowers. He worked mainly in bronze, producing small objects such as lamps, inkwells, vases and cloaks. He occasionally created sculpture and furniture in wood and ivory as well.
Art Nouveau Bronze
Art Nouveau was a movement that swept through the decorative arts and architecture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Generating enthusiasts throughout Europe and beyond, the movement issued in a wide variety of styles, and, consequently, it is known by various names, such as the Glasgow Style, or, in the German-speaking world, Jugendstil. Art Nouveau was aimed at modernizing design, seeking to escape the eclectic historical styles that had previously been popular. Artists drew inspiration from both organic and geometric forms, evolving elegant designs that united flowing, natural forms with more angular contours. The movement was committed to abolishing the traditional hierarchy of the arts, which viewed so-called liberal arts, such as painting and sculpture, as superior to craft-based decorative arts, and ultimately it had far more influence on the latter. The style went out of fashion after it gave way to Art Deco in the 1920s, but it experienced a popular revival in the 1960s, and it is now seen as an important predecessor of Modernism.
The desire to abandon the historical styles of the 19th century was an important impetus behind Art Nouveau and one that establishes the movement’s modernism. Industrial production was, at that point, widespread, and yet the decorative arts were increasingly dominated by poorly made objects imitating earlier periods. The practitioners of Art Nouveau sought to revive good workmanship, raise the status of craft, and produce genuinely modern design.