16 December - 10 March 2018
Shanghai, Chine
Shanghai, Chine
Magnificence of Art Deco (II) – GASTON SUISSE: Master of Lacquer
Beginning December 16, 2017, Galerie Dumonteil (Shanghai) present the exhibition Gaston Suisse: Master of Lacquer, as the second part of Magnificence of Art Deco, devoted to the oeuvres of seminal Art Deco French artist Gaston Suisse (1896-1988) for the first time in China.
On view at the gallery space at 199 Hengshan Road, Gaston Suisse: Master of Lacquer will present thirty-eight important lacquered paintings and drawings from animal theme to abstract and geometric style, that won the artist international recognition in the 1930s at the World’s fair and International Exhibition of 1937. This exhibition traces the evolution of the founding artist of the so-called Art Deco period whose life was imprinted indelibly by two World Wars; who learned lacquering from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Decoratifs and experimented various innovative techniques; who devoted his life to celebrating the animal world and left a vivid mark in the history of 20th century Animal art.
Indifferent to the upheavals and deconstructions that characterized the art in the 20th century, and far from the fascination of the avant-garde artists due to intellectual speculation and refusing to innovate for the sake of innovation or generally any art where the surprising prevails over the beautiful, Gaston Suisse, throughout his life interpreted nature by focusing on its essential in an incomparable style of his own, which, although often copied, has never been equaled.
An inexhaustable worker and, at the same time, a craftsman, engraver and lacquerer, he managed to use his perfect technique for the service of his art. His drawings express not only power but also a purity of line that, for the artist, canonizes beauty.
Unlike many artist of the 1930s, the works by Gaston Suisse were not completely forgotten during the Post-War period. Rediscovery of the Art Deco’s creations and productions in 1970s, thanks to the efforts of some merchants and visionary forefront of the artistic scene. Since then, numerous exhibitions of his artworks have taken place around the world in galleries, museums, public and private institutions. The monumental work commissioned in 1937 by Museum of Modern Art of the city of Paris, currently loaned to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, USA, will be housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2018.
On view at the gallery space at 199 Hengshan Road, Gaston Suisse: Master of Lacquer will present thirty-eight important lacquered paintings and drawings from animal theme to abstract and geometric style, that won the artist international recognition in the 1930s at the World’s fair and International Exhibition of 1937. This exhibition traces the evolution of the founding artist of the so-called Art Deco period whose life was imprinted indelibly by two World Wars; who learned lacquering from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Decoratifs and experimented various innovative techniques; who devoted his life to celebrating the animal world and left a vivid mark in the history of 20th century Animal art.
Indifferent to the upheavals and deconstructions that characterized the art in the 20th century, and far from the fascination of the avant-garde artists due to intellectual speculation and refusing to innovate for the sake of innovation or generally any art where the surprising prevails over the beautiful, Gaston Suisse, throughout his life interpreted nature by focusing on its essential in an incomparable style of his own, which, although often copied, has never been equaled.
An inexhaustable worker and, at the same time, a craftsman, engraver and lacquerer, he managed to use his perfect technique for the service of his art. His drawings express not only power but also a purity of line that, for the artist, canonizes beauty.
Unlike many artist of the 1930s, the works by Gaston Suisse were not completely forgotten during the Post-War period. Rediscovery of the Art Deco’s creations and productions in 1970s, thanks to the efforts of some merchants and visionary forefront of the artistic scene. Since then, numerous exhibitions of his artworks have taken place around the world in galleries, museums, public and private institutions. The monumental work commissioned in 1937 by Museum of Modern Art of the city of Paris, currently loaned to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, USA, will be housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2018.