At the end of the 19th century, for only 20 years, the unique Art Nouveau style reigned in the world. Light, airy, weightless. Decorations, interior, household items - everything was reminiscent of nature, flowers, interweaving of fancy lines, no repetitions, no predictability and symmetry - this is the motto and rule of this style.
And it was at that time that unusual glass works appeared, where the surface of the vases became a canvas for depicting romantic landscapes.
Today is the turn of the glass manufacturer who gave the world wonderful objects, Jean Daum. But those objects that we see are directly related to his son, the artist, but first things first!
First, look at the gallery of Daum vases:
Tell me, dear readers, what if you didn’t know anything about this vase? Neither where it was produced, nor who the author is, what would you think?
Not even like that... To make you feel?
My feelings are as follows - as if I was in childhood, when the air was filled with the sun, fresh wind and the smell of herbs, when the sky was high and gentle...
I love nature in all its forms, I admire tropical forests and the peaks of harsh mountains clinging to the clouds, and the gentle sea and endless ocean, but the beauty of a simple meadow or a black tree trunk against the backdrop of snowy vastness gives rise to a special, piercing feeling. This is how you admire your native expanses.
And this is exactly the feeling I get when I look at the landscapes of Lorraine, which are transferred to Daum glass vases.
Gallery of vases with meadow and forest flowers:
It is interesting that Jean Daum, like his colleagues François Legras and Emile Galle, built a career far removed from both glass production and painting...
Jean Daum was born in Bischwiller, a town in Alsace, in 1825. He was first a notary in Bitch, but is better known as the founder of the Daum glass factory, which today would become the famous crystal factory.
When Prussia annexed Alsace-Lorraine, then Alsace-Moselle, he sold his notary practice and moved to France. He moved to Nancy, where in 1878 he bought a glass factory.
Soon, his eldest son Auguste Daum became involved in management and had an idea: he wanted to develop the production of products in the Art Nouveau (Art Nouveau) style.
So, the father, with the support and activity of his two sons, is developing a business - an absolutely creative, new, magnificent direction, where the high artistic value of objects is achieved through labor, talent, excellent performance, and all this has commercial success. It's perfect. Just a dream. But this is reality!
In 1885, after the death of his father, Auguste took sole control of the glass factory, and in 1887 he was joined by his brother Antonin, who had just graduated from the Central School of Arts and Manufactures in Paris.
Faced with the poor financial condition of the glass factory, Auguste, trained as a lawyer, felt obliged to take the initiative after the factory was bought out to save it from bankruptcy.
Antonin begins by decorating the communal dining sets. Antonin Daum will be responsible for creation, Auguste for administration. Having become familiar with glass making techniques through his training, he directs his production towards artistic creativity.
Romantic pink skies on vases:
Between 1889 and 1891, the two brothers prepare to create an art department entrusted to Antonin. Auguste gives him every opportunity to work to follow the path paved by Emile Galle in Art Nouveau glassware.
Antonin starts with a few simple models, quickly moves on to acid etching, then moves on to models using the technique of engraving on two- or three-layer glass. From 1890 to 1914, he created at least three thousand references.
Jacques Gruber is the first glass artist. Hired in 1893, he was tasked with creating works for the purpose of exhibiting them at the 1893 Chicago Universal Exposition.
This was the first big success that brought Daum into the vicious circle of the art industry. Daum won participation in the exhibition in Nancy in 1894. Then there were exhibitions in Lyon (1894), Bordeaux (1895) and Brussels (1895 and 1897, for which he made the Tristan and Isolde vase), at which they received awards.
In 1897, a design school was created at the company, which trained its own decorators and engravers.
Gallery of Daum perfume bottles:
After the First World War, when the public’s love for Art Nouveau dried up, the plant switched to innovative ideas of Art Deco - but the crisis that affected the whole world still did its job (as happened with many creative, vibrant artistic productions - the 20th century put an end to many).
Antonin's eldest grandson, Antoine Froissart (1920-1971), an engineer at the École Centrale de Paris, perfected glass production.
This new method allowed for the creation of thick, flexible shapes and a shiny appearance. Jacques, Auguste's grandson, brought a breath of fresh air in 1965 by turning to modern designers.
1968–1985: Crystal paste
In times of crisis, Jacques Daum decided to restart traditional production by modernizing the ancient "glass paste" technique, which was rediscovered by a glass factory in the early 20th century and then abandoned.
Gallery of Daum miniatures and bonbonnieres:
In 1976, Pierre de Chérisy, Antonin's grandson, became the last president of the Daum family to lead the company.
Modern Daum glass:
Since 1878, Daum has been producing legendary works of art glass. Few brands have worked with so many artists: over almost 140 years, more than 350 exceptional signatures have created an incomparable legacy, a unique collection.
How to turn these works into crystal sculptures? This is the secret of Daum, the creator of exceptions, the highly skilled workshop, the laboratory of wonders and the designer of incomparable objects.
In Nancy, the Museum of Fine Arts hosts an exhibition of Daum glass.
