 lalique
collection
the glass menagerie
From The Dominion, Jan 31 2002
By Bess Manson
When Professor Jack Richards describes how his passion for
the work of French glass designer was born, it sounds like
he is reminiscing about a love affair.
The "chance encounter" with a vase in a Cairo antique shop
in 1976 had him "smitten". Fascinated by the match of design
and form and the way Lalique transformed a common substance
into a jewel-like work of art, New Zealand-born Richards began
a collection that grows year by year. It is, he says, an obsession.
But take a look at The Luminous World of Rene
Lalique at the Dowse Art Museum this summer
and his gushy enthusiasm might start to make sense.
The collection of 80 Lalique vases, worth hundreds of thousands
of dollars, embraces two of the most significant movements
of his time - Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Through his artistic
prowess and his approach to industry, Lalique became a leader
in both movements and it is his designs that glass artists
still look to for inspiration.
 The
exhibition includes some classic examples of Lalique's trademark
opalescent glass, which, when lit up, appear honey-colored
from behind and blue from the front. Some are big and bold
and confident in their color, others in the collection are
more delicate, even sensuous in their design.
Dowse director Tim Walker says Lalique's talents were not
just on an artistic level. He took the medium to new heights
by experimenting and improving techniques of mass production
to the envy of his peers, who were unable to match his creative
and industrial prowess.
"As an industrialist, as an entrepreneur, a businessman,
a technician of glass ..he was a genius", Walker says, and
the "star" of big expositions during his career.
Lalique's work is timeless and would fit in a contemporary
environment as well as a Victorian one.
The Richards collection is some of the best modernism that
New Zealanders would see, he says.
"Lovers of Lalique will be amazed. And those unfamiliar with
his work will leave the show having been converted."
 Lalique's
designs were inspired by, most distinctly, flora and fauna
as well as mythological creatures etched in a classical style.
His passion for all things Japanese is also evident in his
work. A particularly good example of this is a vase decorated
with exotic birds, which is said to be a favorite design of
his.
Born in the Champagne region of France in 1860, Lalique became
an apprentice to Parisian jeweler and goldsmith Louis Aucoc
at the age of 16, while at the same time enrolling at the
Ecole des Arts Decoratifs.
By 1900 he was exhibiting his jewelry and experimental glasswork
in Paris. It was not till he was 50 - when he began collaborating
with Parisian perfumer Fraciois Coty - that his work with
glass gained momentum, both artistically and as an industry.
Not only did he create decorative bottles for Coty's perfumes
but he was able to do so on a large scale with his methods
of mass-production.
At the peak of Lalique's career in glass, he had 400 people
working with him in two factories, where he produced vases,
chandeliers, paperweights and other prestige items. His love
for the automobile saw him develop mascots for industrial
giants such as Rolls-Royce and Citroen.
 His
factory-made designs made small luxury items available on
a larger scale, while never stinting on quality of design
and production.
As his reputation for glasswork grew, so did the commissions.
His work developed into architectural design, which included
the decoration of the Orient Express in 1928 and the dining
room of the luxury liner Normandie.
After Lalique died in 1945 his son and later his granddaughter
took over the business. It is run today by a friend of the
Lalique family and produces works in "la style Lalique". | 
