Decorative Arts

The Art of René Lalique

The name Lalique is as prestigious and renowned today as it was in 1925 when René Lalique's sensational contribution to the Exposition Internationale de Arts Décoratifs et Industriels in Paris won him critical acclaim and global recognition. Since then, few designers (in any medium) have achieved the same level of artistic output, diversity, and influence of this master innovator of glassworks.

From the simplest statuette to the most elaborate glass vessel, Lalique's works are prized not only for their unique styles of design, but also for the way they vibrantly catch and reflect light. And, depending upon the light source and viewing angle, his classic works are capable of displaying a large range of appearances.

René Jules Lalique was born on April 6, 1860 in the village of Ay (the former Champagne province of France). In 1862 his family moved to suburban Paris; and by the time he was sixteen years old, he became apprenticed to jeweler and goldsmith Louis Aucoc, who was among one of the leading deluxe jewelers in Paris.

Lalique learned this craft well under the guidance of a master, and by 1878 he journeyed to London to further his education at the College de Sydenham. It was here at this school of arts that Lalique studied graphic design and was introduced to the blossoming arts and crafts movement. After college, he returned to Paris to continue work as a jewelry designer and creator. As he progressed, his work spaces and his client list became larger. By 1890, Lalique began experimenting with glass as a design medium.

At first, René Lalique only dabbled in glass, making small panels of pate-de-vere (paste on paste) and cire perdue (wax casting) to use as design elements in his jewelry. From there, he started making small flacons and gold and silver jewelry imbedded with his glass inlays. These works attracted the attention of M.F. Cory, who offered Lalique commissioned work to design elaborately decorative bottles for his perfume company.

The success of this venture was rapid and produced multiple results. One was that it provided enough capital for Lalique to open his own glassworks at Combs-la-Ville in 1909, and another was that the more Lalique worked with glass and experimented with its properties and appearances, the more he realized its potential as a design medium. From these simple beginnings a design legacy and glass dynasty were created.

By 1921, things were going so well that Lalique established a larger factory in Winger-sur-Moder in Alsace-Lorraine. It was here that he started to expand his glass designs to include flasks, vases, and glass statuettes. The elements that made these early works so unique were the impeccable balance and design subject matter that Lalique illustrated.

Lalique glass was lead-based, either blown or pressed. The motifs he favored during the Art Nouveau period were dancing nymphs, fish, dragonflies, and foliage. Characteristically, his crystal glass displays some of the most subtle combinations of subject matter achieved by acid-etched relief. Lalique also designed several vases and bowls reminiscent of American Indian art.

As he progressed, he started using colored glass for his works. Later, some items were produced in as many as ten colors red, amber, and green among them and were occasionally accented with enameling. These colored pieces, especially those in black, are rare and highly priced by knowledgeable collectors.

After the Art Deco exposition in 1925, Lalique developed an Art Deco line that was decorated with stylized birds, florals, and geometrics. He also created vases, clocks, automobile mascots, stemware, bottles, and many other useful objects in this style. By the early thirties, his works were so popular that Lalique became world-renowned as the most important designer of his time.

Without the benefit of illustration, it is difficult to adequately describe the design elements, composition, balance, and subtle shading coloration of a Lalique glasswork. Many of his pieces have the motif elements artfully displayed in surface bas-relief, which, with the proper lighting, creates an illusion of substance and depth. Since these relief images have actual physical topography, the light values become distorted in such a way that even the smallest objects appear round or angular, depending upon their shape.

By 1930, René Lalique was seventy years old and suffering from mild arthritis. Regardless, he continued to branch out into more commercial ventures that saw the creation of some of his larger glassworks, such as glass windows and panels, tables, and architectural designs for private homes.

By 1945, Lalique returned to Alsace to restore his glassworks in Winger-sur-Moder. He died in Paris before the work began, but his son Marc Lalique continued with the work and eventually built the business back to success.

René Lalique's designs remain timeless in their classical beauty and are still sought after by collectors of fine art. The Lalique glassworks continued on under the guidance of Marc Lalique, who became a notable and innovative designer in his own right. When Marc Lalique died in 1977, his daughter Marie-Claude Lalique carried on by designing and producing distinctive works of glass.

Art Objects Exhibited

More than 120 pieces of jewelry and 40 glass objects designed by Lalique are on exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, NYC, through April 12. (212) 849-8300.

  Kids' Korner

Olympic Art Winners

Twenty-six children from 13 nations have met the challenge of the "Visa Olympics of the Imagination International Art Contest" by submitting winning original artwork that illustrated a special person they admire participating in an Olympic winter sport. The five U.S. winners selected from thousands of entries nationwide include: Philip Tanedo of Los Angeles; Alyssa Wehr of Grinnell, IA; Shuki Merlis of Atlanta; Zareen Mehmud and Sadek Ghaznavi, both of Brooklyn, NY. All winners received an all-expenses paid trip to the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, where artwork created for the contest was displayed at an international art exhibit.

New Products for Children

Usborne Books/EDC Publishing has announced several new additions to their line of appealing educational books/kits for children from birth to young adults. You'll find the following among the creativity genre: Puppets shows you how to create lively and expressive characters from finger puppets to string puppets (Ages 8-12). I Can Finger Paint is a beginner's guide to finger painting. Brightly colored illustrations show you each step of the way, and no artistic talent is required by little ones aged 3 and up. I Can Draw Animals shows children aged 3 and up how to draw animals from the most basic shapes for the child who is just learning to draw. With the Birds of North America Kid Kit (ages 8 and up), kids will assemble and paint a simple wooden birdfeeder that comes complete with all materials plus hardware and hanging cord . Then they'll use the Spotter's Guide to identify over 170 species of North American birds by color, etc. You'll be glad you checked out these and other creative books and kits from Usborne.

Art Club for Kids

March is designated "Youth Art Month," so why not celebrate by having your child join the ArtKids Art Club, a program created by the National Art Materials Trade Association, which encourages children to do art through incentive programs and contests. See a participating art materials retailer for the details.

Books Selected

The New York Times has designated their Ten Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1997. You may wish to consider the following books/illustrators for your child's library or a gift: Noah's Ark (Lisbeth Zwerger); The Sea King's Daughter: A Russian Legend (Gennady Spirin); Echoes of the Elders: The Stories and Paintings of Chief Lelooska (Ed. by Christine Normandin); The Hired Hand: An African-American Folktale (Jerry Pinkney); There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Simms Taback); The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese: And Other Tales of the Far North (Leo Dillon/Diane Dillon); Lady Muck (Jonathan Heale); Mysterious Thelonious (Chris Raschka); Leon and Bob (Simon James); and Hosni the Dreamer: An Arabian Tale (Uri Shulevitz).

Pastel

Pastels and Mixed Media

Pastels are a very flexible medium that can be used to create images ranging from a simple sketch to an intricately detailed painting. What few realize is how pastels can be mixed with other mediums to achieve effects that are impossible with pastels alone. This compatibility with other drawing and painting mediums allows for rich and interesting experimentation with mixed media techniques.

Pastels can be mixed with watercolors, acrylic paints and gels, alkyds, and oil paints for a large range of painterly effects. Pencil and ink can also be incorporated into a pastel drawing to add textural line qualities. For texture, modeling paste and marble dust can be added to pastels to build up impasto qualities. Those willing to experiment with some of these combinations will most certainly add to their repertoire of drawing and painting techniques.

Since pastels are water-soluble, they work well with watercolors. In some instances, they can be combined to act as a single medium with a painterly, brush-like quality. One popular method is to apply pastels over a watercolor painting to add opaque highlights over the wash (dry or not). This technique also works well with gouache, since its matte finish is similar to that of soft pastels.

When working with watercolor and pastel, it's important to keep in mind that watercolor is transparent with a painterly quality, while soft pastel is graphically opaque. With proper planning, these contrasting qualities can complement each other so that the best is achieved from both mediums.

Like watercolor and gouache, acrylics are also water-soluble, making them compatible for use with pastels. Most acrylics will overpower pastels if the two are combined directly, so acrylic mediums or gels must first be used to dilute the acrylic pigment. Once diluted, acrylics lend pastels the body necessary for impasto textures. Acrylics also help make the surface of a pastel painting strong and durable.

As with watercolor, you can use a finished acrylic underpainting as a base for further pastel highlights. When drawn directly on acrylic, pastels can exploit the present surface textures. And since acrylic is such a strong support, it can withstand the surface abrasion of pastels as well as the use of fixatives. Pastel paper alone is not a strong enough support when these two media are used together. Instead, use a 2-ply or thicker illustration board so that the surface does not buckle when wet.

One further variation is to use pastels with acrylic gels and mediums but not the actual acrylic paint. For example, an acrylic medium (such as matte medium) can be used to provide the vehicle, while pastels provide the pigment color. Combined, they form a workable paint base that can be quickly applied with a brush. Once dried, fresh pastel can be added over this preliminary layer. The advantage of using this technique is that it allows you to build up multiple pastel layers without using intermediate fixatives, since the pastel pigment is actually encased within the hardened layers of clear acrylic medium. Acrylic mediums will darken pastel pigments slightly, but not as much as applied fixatives.

Modeling paste is a fast-drying acrylic medium that helps build heavy impasto textures. The matte color of this paste is also complementary to the color and texture of pastels. Modeling paste is available in smooth or rough textures, each differentiated by the amount of crushed silica (sand) or Carborundum that is added to it. With this mixed medium technique, pastels are drawn on heavy paper or a board panel, and then modeling paste is carefully applied over them with a palette knife. When this is done, some of the pastels will dissolve, but most will have their colors enriched as viewed through the semi-transparent paste. Since this paste dries quickly, layers can be built up to create an opalescent image with as much texture as you want to apply.

Alkyd gels are used mostly with oil pastels to create images that are more transparent and paint-like in appearance. Like the above-mentioned mediums, alkyd gels will also isolate each pigment layer so that fixatives are not needed for protection. Due to their thin viscosity, alkyd gels can be used to dilute pastel pigments to the point where they can be used as thin glazes of color. This works best for darker colors, whereas white and pale pigments do not glaze well because they become simply too opaque.

Since they are both oil-based, oil pastels have been traditionally used as a drawing medium for oil paintings. Another major advantage to oil pastels is that they can be applied over dried oil paint and be absorbed; or they can be wiped off the surface if results are undesirable. These pastels can also be used to transform an oil underpainting into a highly developed pastel illustration.

This type of pastel application has been used to rework areas of many an oil painting; and by selecting the right pastel colors, enhanced highlights and lowlights can be seamlessly added to an oil painting. Working in layers with varnish fix coats, any oil can be developed to a high degree of detail with the help of pastels.

As in many areas of life, common elements can be combined in imaginative ways to produce a result that is greater than the sum of the parts. This holds true for pastels and mixed media--you need only experiment with a few basic materials and techniques to witness results while discovering new styles in the process.

Competitions

Holiday Card Contest--Decorative Artist's Workbook has issued a call for entries for its Holiday Card Contest sponsored by Strathmore Paper Co. Open to artists at all levels, prize winners in each of four categories will receive art materials, and a $1,000 Grand Prize Winner will be chosen by Gibson Greeting Cards. Top award winners will be announced at the 1998 Society of Decorative Painters' Convention in Phoenix, June 5-7; and their artwork will appear in the Decorative Artist's Workbook 1998 Christmas issue. Entry Deadline: April 24. Send a #10 SASE to: Decorative Artist's Workbook Holiday Card Competition, Attn: Competition Coordinator, Dept. PR, 1507 Dana Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45207; Fax: (513) 531-1843, Dept. PR.

Call for Sculpture--Entries are requested for Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, an exhibition of outdoor works to be held at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA, from July 4 - October 12. The theme is "Nature in Abstraction and Abstraction in Nature." Guest Curator is Roberta M. Bernstein, Chair of the Art Dept., SUNY-Albany. Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, cash stipends totaling $10,000 will be awarded to artists based upon both artistic merit and economic need. Deadline: March 23. Call Paul Ivory, (413) 298-3579, Ext. 19.

Figurative Competition--The 3rd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Figurative Art will be held June 5-28 at Gallery On 2nd. Juror is Terry Sullivan, Assoc. Ed., American Artist. Deadline: April 18. Send #10 SASE to Gallery On 2nd, Dept. M, P.O. Box 158, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163.

Pastel Competition--The Connecticut Pastel Society's 5th Annual National Exhibition "Renaissance in Pastel" will be held June 21-July 20. Slide Deadline: April 10. Send #10 SASE to E. Bender, c/o Gallery 53, P.O. Box 348, Meriden, CT 06450; (203) 237-5224.

Exhibition on Birds--The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI, is accepting submissions of contemporary paintings, works on paper, and sculpture for its 23rd annual juried exhibition, "Birds in Art." Works must interpret birds and related subject matter. Deadline: April 15. Call (715) 845-7010.

Crafts

Capturing History/Holding Memories
by Janean S. Thompson, CPF

Origins of scrapbooking and the entire "memory lane" craze now in full bloom can be traced to one specific source. Brought about by the need to chronicle their large families and to preserve records for their "history," Utah's Mormon population began the collection, cataloging and presentation of their pictorial records in scrapbook form. From those beginnings, the art of scrapbooking has blossomed into a multimillion-dollar creative genre. Actually, the recent rebirth of scrapbook documentation has provided widespread benefits for all of us. Many new products useful in memory books and other applications have become more visible and accessible. Logically, the current surge in memory lane materials can also be tied to a renewed interest in genealogy and a need to "create" history that might not otherwise exist.

"Boomers" and those whose parents were "flower children" have little or no record of their recent past. The parents of boomers, caught up in post-wartime efforts, perhaps did not keep ample records of the family's growth and special occasions. Flower children were too "free" to be encumbered with mementos like photos, letters, invitations and the like. Needless to say, there were not a lot of family albums created during this period.

These two groups and their children comprise a large percentage of memory lane creators. Because they were devoid of scrapbooks and photo albums, they are now "creating" their own family histories and piecing together their past for posterity. Young, contemporary families are also keeping family and special event albums in record numbers. With all of the wonderful supplies and accessories offered, memory books are fun, easy and very rewarding.

Today's interest in memory books/scrapbooking harkens memories of the occasional Sunday afternoon when the family came together with all the clippings, photos, letters, etc., to be included in the family album. In some families, this ritual was so important that it was a weekly affair. If you are fortunate enough to leaf through such a scrapbook, one created where the entire family took part in its creation, you will see a true slice of history.

Photo albums, memory books, scrapbooks--whatever you call them today--are one of the most popular ways to catalog, store and organize pictorial images and written documentation. The level of elegance or simplicity is up to the creator, but materials are available to satisfy any need.

For decades, memory book materials were displayed at most retail art/craft and five and dime supply stores. These products were somewhat basic but designed to help anyone document family history or organize a myriad of other collected items into book form. Retailers today, however, offer copious quantities of innovative sheets, stamps, stickers, special pens, borders, specialty scissors, sheet covers and dynamic album covers to create keepsake books that are works of art.For the artistic keepsake album creator, covers made from high-grade canvas are available and ready for acrylic painting, inks and other art material application. Many elegant fabric covers like brocade, tapestry and moir‚ offer instant possibilities for formal and elegant presentations. Inexpensive smooth leatherette surfaces come in rich tones and make wonderful covers for any occasion. You can even make your own covers because of the associated interest in making handmade books. (Classes are available at many locations.)

For instant memory books, check out the selection of albums that contains theme sheets with precut photo positions and decorative touches--all coordinated and available in many different styles. All you have to do is pop in the photos and that's it! They closely resemble the fancy photo albums from the 1920's and 1930's--elegant and easy.

Sheets and inserts come in all types of paper qualities, colors, and patterns. Most importantly, for longevity, many manufacturers offer acid-free paper. This insures sturdy sheets that will stand up to long years of enjoyment and not deteriorate anything attached to them. New on the market are the wonderful "theme" sheets. These can be stationery quality papers that you glue into your album or sheets that you create using stickers, templates and/or stamps.

If you are looking for a simple and easy way to get color and photo decoration into your album, consider using the pre-cut, paste-on borders to surround your photo collection. Repetition of a similar design from page to page can create balance and tie all of the scenes together. They also offer a quick and easy way to "crop" your photos to exclude backgrounds and draw attention to the people or items in the shot. Fancy deckle designing scissors are available to size the materials and, at the same time, decorate their edges. Small squeeze-activated punches have been introduced to create special corner trims and punch special shapes. These are not only for the photos or borders, but for the actual album pages themselves.

Some of the most interesting memory books involve combinations of any or all of the above materials. Use stamps and stickers to add interest and texture and call attention to special photos and collected entries in your memory book. Write with specialty pens in different colors and trim materials with special shears and punches.

Statistically, who is the most likely to create a memory book? Females outnumber males 10 to 1. Ages of those creating albums range from teenagers to great-grandmothers. Special kits are available for kids that even include a one-time-use camera and everything else needed to make their own scrapbook. Occasions most frequently documented include all the activities surrounding the arrival of a new baby, weddings, vacations, milestone anniversaries and birthdays, and family reunions.

So get your materials and items gathered and spend a few wonderful hours capturing your family's history. But be prepared because, once they see it, everyone in the family will want to have their own copy of your wonderful memory book!

  Airbrush

Hand-Held Templates and Shields

In airbrush technique, stenciling is referred to as "frisketing." A frisket is a self-adhering (adhesive-backed) material that is cut as needed. But other tools that are often used in airbrush technique to develop shapes or images are templates and shields. These are used in all applications from T-shirt painting to technical illustration. They can be either purchased or handmade, and there are several manufacturers of airbrush-specific templates and shields.

A template is usually a manufactured stencil of a given image--a star, an ellipse, letters, etc., while a shield is usually a random shape that is utilized by artists to develop objects. Both are made from a variety of materials--acetate, mylar, cardboard, paper, etc. Shields made from transparent or translucent materials are preferred, since you are able to easily adjust their position for perfect registration. Unlike frisket film, which adheres to the surface of the artwork, templates and shields can be moved around while you airbrush and therefore afford more flexibility.

Following are some tips to consider when both selecting and using these tools:

1. Be cautious of the thickness of the template. If too thick, the edges will block the spray; if too thin, the air pressure will make them flutter and spray will leak under the edges. A 5mm thickness should be considered the maximum.

2. Insure that overspray does not drift. If working with a template that has many openings, you must make sure that those not being used are covered so that overspray does not drift into them and give you a ghosted image. Also be sure the perimeter is covered so that overspray will not pick up the outline of the template edges.

3. Be cautious of building up the paint too quickly, since these tools are not adhered to the surface. If paint is too wet along the edge of the template, capillary action will draw the paint up underneath and destroy the effect you are striving for.

4. Plastic-based templates should be cleaned off regularly while being used so you do not inadvertently transfer wet paint onto the work as they are moved around. Paper templates, on the other hand, are more difficult to keep clean and don't have the advantage of transparency.

5. When working with non-water-soluble paints--such as automotive, enamel, or lacquer--use templates that are solvent-proof. If you spray lacquer, for example, onto a non-solvent-proof template, it will curl, warp, or be consumed.

6. For tight, exacting edges, templates can always be coated for adherence to the work surface by spraying the back with a repositionable spray adhesive. Do not overcoat the template with adhesive, and make sure when you remove it that no adhesive residue remains on the artwork.

Templates and shields, in conjunction with frisketing techniques and freehand airbrushing, give artists unlimited possibilities in the development of their artwork.

New Templates Available

Medea Airbrush Products has announced availability of the new Master Series Radu Vero Freehand Airbrush Templates from Artool Products Co. The two universal airbrush shields, "The Bird" and "The Pharaoh," allow for greater speed and creative freedom in airbrushing. They complement each other and can be used alternately for the same piece of artwork, where the curvature of shapes alternates from very large to very small. One of Radu Vero's most significant contributions to the airbrush arts is the refinement and use of freehand shielding methods, which are featured in the upcoming reissue of his book Airbrush: The Complete Studio Handbook (Watson Guptill). The shields are available in "original" for water-based colors or "solvent-proof" for solvent-based paints. For a complete listing of the Medea-Iwata-Artool catalog on the Web, go to http://www.arttalk.com/iwata/index.htm.

ArtPourri

Record Set--A black chalk study entitled "Christ and the Woman of Samaria" by Michelangelo has sold at Sotheby's for $7.4 million, a record price for a drawing by the artist.

Exhibit Shared--The paintings of N.C. Wyeth (who died in 1945) and his grandson Jamie Wyeth (who was born in 1946) are on view in "N.C. Wyeth and His Grandson: A Legacy." The show ends March 29 at the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA.(610)388-2700.

Stamps Featured--Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp" character has been immortalized on a 32-cent stamp unveiled recently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.--A new exhibit at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., "Mail to the Chief," chronicles Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's passion for stamps. FDR's concepts resulted in at least eight stamp designs.

Winners Announced--Thirty-two emerging visual artists have been named winners of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation's 18th Biennial Competition. Recipients include painters, sculptors, photographers and craftsmen and are each awarded $20,000.

Last Call--The final opportunity in the U.S. to see "Jewels of the Romanovs" is at the Brooklyn Museum of Art from March 20-July 5. On exhibit will be 200 opulent objects. Better order your advance tickets now: 1-888-8-JEWEL-8.

Works Seized--Fifteen works have been seized by authorities from the traveling Robert Rauschenberg exhibition currently at the Menil Collection in Houston. They are to be sold if the artist does not pay a $5.5 million court judgment owed to an art dealer.

Major Exhibition Planned--Two U.S. cities will feature a major show of works by Vincent Van Gogh beginning this fall. "Van Gogh's Van Goghs: Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam" will feature a full retrospective of the artist's work and include seventy works. The exhibition will run from Oct. 4 through Jan. 3 at the National Gallery of Art and from Jan. 17 through April 4, 1999 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Museums' Wishes Granted--Late pop artist Roy Lichtenstein has bequeathed important paintings to three major American museums. "Grrrrrrrrrrr!" was left to the Guggenheim; "Bauhaus Stairway" to the Museum of Modern Art; and "Look Mickey" to the National Gallery of Art.

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 8 No. 5 -- March 1998