Rene Jules Lalique - Style

A-Level: Art

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Rene Jules Lalique was part of the Art Nouveau movement. Lalique was born in France in 1860 and lived until 1945. Over the years he designed many things but was, perhaps, best known for his jewellery designer. Art Nouveau designers believed in ‘form over function’ as they thought an object should look good no matter what the consequences. They made bright and extravagant pieces and were inspired by nature, mainly insects and other natural forms, for example plants. Due to the designers belief in ‘form over function’ many pieces were heavy and unpractical. This was a positive time for designers as World War I and industrial revolution meant the introduction of many new materials meaning that designers had more freedom to experiment and become more creative with their designs, they created things the general public had never seen before. Artists started to mix common everyday items such as glass with precious metals, gold and platinum, and precious gems, rubies and diamonds.
One of the best known pieces Lalique made is the dragonfly corsage ornament. This is a heavy piece that incorporates nature and insects in its design, both typical aspects of Lalique style and the style of others in his movement. It uses curveline in the form of thin, sweeping lines that progress to become thicker and more linear or wavy. These lines are found on the wings where most of the lines can’t be seen at the end but as the line gradually progresses its curve towards the main body of the piece we can see its width thicken. The effect of this adds beauty to the piece which was their intention. The lines on the body of the dragonfly are thicker and more definite between the gem stones but unexpectedly as the body thins these lines get thicker and start to no longer look like lines. These are typical of the Art Nouveau movement because of the curvilinear lines relationship to nature. Lalique has chosen to use neutral blue and greens set in gold creating an eye catching contrast. This is seen throughout the piece but mainly on the exquisite wings where the colours weave between each other creating an illusive pattern that is a treat to the eye, the veins of the wing have been created in gold and are set on an emerald green backing.
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