THE BEAUTIES OF THE MUSEE-LALIQUE

IN WINGEN-SUR-MODE

MUSEE LALIQUE in Wingen-sur-Mode

THE BEAUTIES OF THE MUSEE-LALIQUE

IN WINGEN-SUR-MODE

The Lalique Museum will celebrate its 10th anniversary on 1 July 2021. In this first decade of the museum's existence, over 530,000 visitors have had the privilege of discovering the artist René Lalique, the great diversity of his work and that of his successors, and the exceptional techniques and skills for which the Lalique name is synonymous.

LALIQUE, A FAMILY HISTORY

RENÉ LALIQUE (1860-1945)

From his birth in 1860 in Aÿ en Champagne to his death in 1945 in Paris, René Lalique lived two successive artistic lives, and each time he rose to become one of the major protagonists who left their mark first on Art Nouveau and then on Art Deco.

THE INVENTOR OF MODERN JEWELLERY

Inspired by nature and bold enough to use the female body as an ornamental element, René Lalique brought an unexpected renewal to the world of jewellery. He used gold and precious stones and combined them with previously little-used materials such as horn, ivory, semi-precious stones, enamel and, of course, glass. In his eyes, it was better to strive for something beautiful than for an outward display of luxury.... The feel took precedence over the material.

René Lalique's avant-garde jewellery appealed above all to an intellectual and artistic elite that defied convention and was able to appreciate the beauty of an object despite the relative poverty of the materials used. One loyal customer was the great actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Another crucial person in the artist's career was Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian. A financier and oil magnate, between 1899 and 1920 he acquired about one hundred and fifty jewels and artefacts, extraordinary works that we can admire today in the foundation that bears his name in Lisbon.

At the 1900 World's Fair, René Lalique celebrated an unassailable triumph. His stand caused a sensation, his innovative works were universally admired and earned him promotion to Officier de la Légion d'Honneur. From then on, he received commissions from all over the world and was invited to all the major events of the art world in Europe and the United States.... But success also attracted imitators. Lalique was anything but flattered. As an inventor who went his own way, he hated being copied. Tired of plagiarism, he gradually set course for other horizons. Glass had been one of his interests for some time. A new career was in the offing...

THE SECOND CAREER

THE MAGICAL ATTRACTION OF GLASS

René Lalique's first experiments with glass date back to the 1890s. He familiarised himself with vitrifiable materials by making jewellery and undoubtedly discovered glass through enamel. He engraved it, set it and used it more and more as a substitute for precious stones. Translucent and transparent like them, it had the advantage of being designed and manufactured according to the needs of the final project. René Lalique also created small artefacts, vases and sculptures using the cire perdue technique. A little later, he experimented with the technique of blowing into a mould, albeit a precious mould of chiselled silver, which became one with the glass that embraced it and became its setting.

FRANCOIS COTY

The encounter with François Coty led René Lalique to design and also produce perfume bottles. A veritable technological and commercial revolution was underway, which would not have succeeded without the artist's skill and inspiration. Although mass-produced, these designs were undoubtedly works of art.

©Table tactile Musee Lalique

In 1912, when René Lalique had mastered the techniques to perfection, he decided to devote himself exclusively to glass. He then organised his last jewellery exhibition and the public discovered the master glassmaker.

As an avant-garde jeweller, René Lalique also set himself apart from his predecessors by switching to glassmaking. He eschewed multi-layered, multi-coloured glass in favour of translucency and transparency, the natural properties of glass. He also asserted his difference in form: simplicity, balance, symmetry. An eclectic artist, René Lalique was not only interested in tableware, vases and statuettes, he also designed mascots for the luxury cars of the Jazz Age, decorations for trains such as the Côte d'Azur Pullman Express, ocean liners such as the Normandie, created extraordinary fountains, was interested in religious architecture...

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION OF RENÉ LALIQUE

The female form, flora, fauna: the 3 Fs from which Lalique drew his inspiration.

An attentive observer of living things, René Lalique came across an endless source of inspiration in nature. He examined plants and flowers, studied aquatic life, watched reptiles and birds and was fascinated by insects. But it was not only in earth and sky, plants and trees that he sought inspiration; the human animal, the female face and body also distilled the breath of creation in him.

He did not copy nature, he did not stylise its various components, he created through transformation. Creations that breathed life into the magic of the material.



THE SPITIT OF ART DECO

When he turned to glass, he drew pure lines and the ornaments, often geometric, took on the new rhythms and syncopated cadences associated with those heady years of the Jazz Age. But he also knew how to soften them, when necessary, with very naturalistic sculptures of plants, animals or women. Thus, over time, René Lalique had not only the courage but also the talent to adapt his inspirations to new trends without abandoning the underlying personality.

BETWEEN TRADITION & MODERNITY

THE HEIRS OF RENÉ LALIQUE

Suzanne Lalique (1892-1989)

As the daughter of René Lalique and Alice Ledru - herself the daughter of the sculptor Auguste Ledru, a friend of Rodin - Suzanne Lalique was regularly asked by her father for her creativity and judgement. From 1910, she designed powder compacts and bonbon boxes for him, and later vases and other decorative pieces. Through her marriage to Paul Burty Haviland, she discovered another family of artists and came into contact with the world of porcelain. She also brought her talent to bear in the field of painting and textiles.

Marc Lalique (1900-1977)

The son of René Lalique and Alice Ledru, Marc was born on 1 September 1900. After studying at the School of Decorative Arts in Paris, he worked with his father from 1922. When René died, he took over the management of the family business. He used his qualities as a technician to renovate and modernise the factory in Wingen-sur-Moder. Under his impetus, the Lalique crystal factory quickly took its place among the great French and foreign crystal factories.

Marie-Claude Lalique (1935 - 2003)

Marc's passion for his craft was to have a lasting influence on his daughter's early years. From a very early age, Marie-Claude, Marc's daughter, was able to experience the emotions of the creative artist as she saw her work take shape thanks to the dexterity and skill of the master glassmaker. Although continuing the work of her grandfather and father was her main goal, she was nevertheless aware that continuing the spirit also meant renewal.



La Maison Lalique aujourd'hui

In February 2008, the Lalique company was taken over by the Swiss company Art et Fragrance, now called Lalique Group. The managing director and owner of the company is Silvio Denz.

In addition to the traditional crystal business, the company continues to develop jewellery and perfume collections as well as new editions of older works.

Ensemble de flacons de parfum - K. Faby Coll. Musee Lalique

LALIQUE IN WINGEN-SUR-MODER

GLASS, AN OLD TRADITION IN THE NORTH VOSGES

The glassmaking tradition in the Northern Vosges is an old one. It even dates back to the end of the fifteenth century. Century. The thick mantle of sandstone that covered the region provided the silica, the basic element for making glass, and the abundant forests provided the fuel.

THE ARRIVAL OF LALIQUE IN WINGEN-SUR-MODER

Fifty years after the closure of the Hochberg glassworks, the glass industry was to be reborn in Wingen-sur-Moder with the creation of the Verrerie d'Alsace by René Lalique. By the time he built this new factory, this brilliant artist had already had a long and prestigious life of creation. An exceptional jeweller, he was now to give free rein to his imagination in the field of glass.

As his reputation as a glassmaker grew, the factory in Combs-la-Ville could no longer keep up with demand. Therefore, after the First World War, René Lalique built a second production facility in Wingen-sur-Moder in Alsace. Located in a traditional glassmaking region, he knew he would find the skilled workers he needed to practise his art here and took advantage of the incentives offered by the government, which wanted to make the newly reclaimed regions of Alsace and Moselle the showcases of France.

Although Alsatian production initially specialised mainly in table glass and the manufacture of pre-war models continued in the Paris region, this distinction was gradually to disappear. From 1923 onwards, the trademark V.D.A., for Verrerie d'Alsace, was also replaced by the traditional signature R. Lalique when the moulds were renewed.

The exceptional skill of the region's glassmakers was one of the main reasons that led René Lalique to settle in the Northern Vosges. Today, almost two hundred men and women still put their skill and knowledge at the service of creation.

In the workshop, around the furnace, a veritable ballet unfolds, consisting of breathing, whirling and measured gestures. The molten material takes shape. In the cold workshops, the sculptural work continues to shape the piece according to the artist's intentions.

The craftsmen who dedicate their lives to the material include ten Meilleurs Ouvriers de France. They received this award as the culmination of a competition in which they had to demonstrate their technical knowledge and skill. Symbols of excellence, they are the pride of the company.

MUSEE LALIQUE IN WINGEN-SUR-MODER

Prestigious Lalique collections can be seen all over the world, such as at the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris and the Lalique Museum in Hakone, Japan, whose collection consists mainly of jewellery by René Lalique.

The museum in Alsace has set out to show the artist's entire oeuvre, with a particular focus on what is made at Lalique in Wingen-sur-Moder: Glass and crystal.  It is located in a former glass manufactory and thus follows the glassmaking tradition in the Northern Vosges, a tradition that largely explains René Lalique's decision to move there. It was created in the village that René Lalique chose to build his factory.

In 2004, an international architectural competition was held and the designs of the famous French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte won. In addition to the beautiful buildings, the heart of the museum is a hidden ornamental garden.



THE IMPORTANCE OF RENÉ LALIQUE'S WORK

He was a genius, artist and craftsman who interpreted nature and art mesiterially. He is credited as the inventor of modern jewellery, always putting beauty before luxury, and his sense of elegance and style is unsurpassed to this day.

WHERE

Musée Lalique

Rue du Hochberg

67290 Wingen-sur-Moder

www.musee-lalique.com