A pair of prints have just been listed on the site by French artist Georges Dayez, of clear inspiration from Picasso, but also with traces of de Chirico and even Dali. The quality of the prints is very high and they are striking images. Dayez was schooled in Paris at the famous Academie Julian in the 1920's and was closely connected with the School of Paris and exhibited alongside Pignon, Adam and Helion. Amongst other achievements he was one of the jury on the Grad Prix de Rome. His work is in the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and his studio still exists in the 18th arrondisement in Paris, from where these prints were sourced. A name to watch, perhaps?
Based out of Bonny in the Loiret, Lucien Brisdoux, the son of potter Achille Brisdoux, was taught by Raoul Lachenal in the mid 20's and as a result went through a period of experimentation. One of the results of this were a series of sculptural vessels usually underglazed in dark brown tones and overglazed with random patterns of metallic glazes varying from silver through copper, to gold.. This lasted for around ten years and he gave up the technique around 1940 as it was too expensive. These can be found individually but we currently have a striking set of three on the site.
As well as Italy and Scandinavia, some of the finest quality glass was coming out of Germany in the 1940's & 50's. Where much of the Scandinavian modernist aesthetic was produced in large quantities from moulds and in series, Italian and German glass was proudly unique and individualistic. Italian glass tended towards the sculptural and freeform, while the German technical mastery of the medium was expressed in cutting, turning and etching. Two examples on the site at the moment were made as one off pieces by Nora Ortlieb, a pupil at the Stuttgart technical art school of Wilhelm von Eiff, considered one of the 20th centuries very finest glass workers. Ortlieb (1904-1984) started her own workshop in 1943 but I would guess these vessels date from the 1950's. The weight and quality is outstanding and compared to Venini for example, are very reasonable in price. Each is signed, and very much a work of art in their own right.
Another obscure name that deserves greater recognition, Hildo (Hildebrand) Krop was the preeminent sculptor of the Dutch "Amsterdam School" a stylistic melange of Art Nouveau and Art Deco that was peculiar to Holland. Mixing Futurism, Modernism and Symbolism, the Amsterdam School is perhaps one of the most underrated expressions of 20th century design. Seen in design mediums as varied as teacups to council flats, it was an expressive style that transferred to all areas. Some of the best examples can be seen in the Tuschinski Theatre in Amsterdam and the Het Schip estate buildings on the outskirts of the same city. Hildo Krop made both small scale artworks such as bronzes but also contributed architectural elements to municipal buildings. His often grotesque interpretations of human and animal forms have a nightmarish but fascinating quality to them, and bear little relation to any of his European contemporaries. We currently have a plaster head for sale that is unsigned but certainly exhibits many Krop characteristics.
Considered a minor artist in his field and barely collected outside of France and Belgium, Edgard Aubry (1880-1943) was born in Chatelet, Belgium but worked in Bouffioulx where there was a community of talented potters especially in earthenware & stoneware (gres). His shapes were fairly simple and range from sinuous at nouveau to geometric art deco, but his glazes were very complex and highly decorative. There is great skill and sensitive handling of these glazes raising the vessels from being merely functional to having artistic merit. Probably deserving to be better know, his work can still be purchased very reasonably compared to some of the bigger names from this period. A great pot of c1920-30 has just been listed on the site with wonderful glazes in whites, greens and browns.
|