La Céramique et la Lave émaillé d'Hector Guimard

The use of ceramics to decorate two private mansions in 1891 and 1893 in the Auteuil district of Paris reveals the creative and innovative spirit of Hector Guimard (1867-1942), who was still a student at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts. The floral themes, colours and lines of the decorative panel designs that adorned these homes already heralded Art Nouveau.

The architect very quickly created new ceramic models, some of which were published by leading manufacturers in search of new talent. Around 1900, the prestigious Manufacture de Sèvres commissioned three shapes from him. Always modern, Guimard translated the radical evolution of his style into this material, creating decors and objects that are among our heritage masterpieces. By using enamelled lava as early as the Castel Béranger, he magnified this rare material with its astonishing properties.

Through numerous reproductions, most of them previously unpublished, this book brings together and comments for the first time on Guimard's production and use of ceramics and enamelled lava, placing them in their historical context.