Jean Dunand

Jean Dunand

A signature from Jean Dunand

A signature from Jean Dunand

Jules John Dunand , nickname Jean Dunand , (born May 20, 1877 in Lancy , † June 7, 1942 in Paris ) was a Swiss and French painter , sculptor , metalworker , furniture designer , interior designer and lacquer artist . His works are considered characteristic of the Art Deco movement.

Life

Jean Dunand's parents were the goldsmith Jean Eugène Dunand and his wife Jeanne Amélie Götschi. Dunand first learned sculpture at the École des arts industriels in Geneva in 1891 . In 1897 he received a scholarship from the city of Geneva to study in Paris. Here he studied together with the wood engraver François Louis Schmied , who would be his friend and colleague for the rest of his life. In Paris he worked in the workshop of the sculptor, medalist and jeweler Jean Dampt . Around 1902 he turned to dinanderie and worked with materials like copper, steel and tin. His first works followed the Art Nouveau style , but soon showed straight and oval patterns typical of Art Déco , which were used in a growing repertoire of objects. From 1912 he learned from the Japanese lacquer artist Seizo Sougawara (who also worked with Eileen Gray ) techniques that had previously been largely unknown in the western world and now developed into Dunand's most important artistic means of expression. During World War I he volunteered for service in the French Red Cross .

Dunand's best-known works include ornamental vases, screens, furniture and jewelry, which he often adorned with stylized animals such as birds or fish, but also with floral and neocubism motifs or oriental themes. From 1923, the colors red and black often dominated his lacquer art objects. Occasionally, Dunand also decorated pieces of furniture by other designers such as Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann , Pierre Legrain , Jean Goulden or Eugène Printz . He designed the interiors for limousines for the coachbuilder Carrosserie Labourdette . He was an interior designer for the furnishing of numerous apartments and received orders for the interior decoration of the passenger ships Île de France (1927), L'Atlantique (1931) and Normandie (1935). In the almost fifty years of his work, Dunand designed and produced more than 1200 different art items. The demand for products from his studio was so strong that he employed around 100 people there.

Dunand exhibited his work regularly across France, including often at the Salon of the Société du Salon d'Automne . At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 he received a gold medal for his bronze sculpture entitled Quo Vadis . He took part in the Salon of the Société nationale des beaux-arts in 1904 and became a member of the association in 1905. In 1906 he received a gold medal for his copper work at the World Exhibition in Milan in 1906 . In 1919 he was accepted as a knight in the French Legion of Honor . For the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et industriels modern in 1925 he created a smoking room completely clad with lacquered panels. In 1928 his work was shown in the luxury goods store Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue in New York City . On the occasion of the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937 he was appointed head of the lacquerware division and decorated the French pavilion for the New York World's Fair in 1939 . In June 1941 he took part in the Salon des Tuileries in the Palais de Tokyo .

Jean Dunand had married Marguerite Moutardier in 1909; six children came from this connection.

Works (selection)

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  Vase around 1935, Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris

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  Vase from 1925, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Table 1927/28, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Table from 1925, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Side Chair , 1927/28, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Easy Chair , 1927/28, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Dresser 1927/28, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Screen 1925–35, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

literature

• Alastair Duncan : Encyclopedia of Art Deco. William Collins, Sydney 1988, ISBN 0-7322-0013-X , pp. 43, 51, 55, 58, 62, 80, 90, 143, 153, 159.
• Jared Goss : French Art Deco. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 2014, ISBN 0-300-20430-2 , pp. 73, 74, 79, 81, 255.
• Eric Knowles : Art Deco. Shire Collections, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York City 2014. ISBN 0-7478-1521-6 , pp. 21, 33, 47, 49, 57, 61-62.
• Félix Marcilhac: Jean Dunand: His Life and Work. Thames & Hudson, London 1991, OCLC 25611010 .
• Marty Noble: Art Deco Designs. Courier Corporation, North Chelmsford 2005, ISBN 978-0-486-99663-9 , pp. 8, 27, 46.
• Victoria Charles: 1000 Masterpieces of Decorative Art. Parkstone International, New York City 2014, ISBN 978-1-78310-460-4 , p. 454.

Web links

Commons : Jean Dunand  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jean Dunand (Swiss, 1877-1942). In: artnet , with pictures of Dunand's work.
• Dunand, Jules John, Called Jean. In: Emmanuel Bénézit : Dictionary of Artists . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006.
• Jean Dunand. In: meubliz.com
• Biography Jean Dunand. In: jean-dunand.org