Art Nouveau

Without question, the Art Nouveau movement was a key moment in the history of Lorraine art.

Involving dozens of artists and art manufacturers, the style was superbly expressed in the work of Emile Gallé who practised his art at Meisenthal for 27 years. Gallé enjoyed much success alongside Louis Majorelle at the Paris world fair in 1889.

Creating glass art inspired by nature, Gallé was an artist/botanist guided by the principle “always innovate, never copy”. He also ventured into sculpted and inlaid furniture.

Glass-makers, cabinetmakers, ceramicists, engravers, sculptors and architects were among his many students. Antonin Daum and his illustrious sintered glass career, Jacques Gruber and his stained glass, the painter Victor Prouvé, Louis Majorelle and his furniture decorated with sculpted lilies and orchids, and indeed Eugène Vallin. These artists contributed to the success and international reputation of the Nancy school, whose ambitions were as much social as economic, as much artistic as “industrial”.

Nature remained a fertile source of inspiration for those who subscribed to the motto "Ma racine est au fond des bois" (My roots are in the wood) and who shook the pervading academicism of the time.

Glassware and ceramics, furniture, ironwork, stained glass, embroidery, fabrics, painting... nothing escaped their attention.