Raisins mystérieux
Emile Gallé
(1846 -
1904)
Niveau médian,
Salle 63
Artwork location
At the Universal Exhibition of 1889, Emile Gallé made the acquaintance of the poet Robert de Montesquiou. The two men were very close until one fateful day in June 1897 when they became embroiled in one of the quarrels that customarily put an end to friendships with the very touchy count.
In the meantime, at the beginning of 1893, Gallé had given Montesquiou Mysterious Grapes. As Montesquiou had asked him why, Gallé wrote: "In what capacity have you been sent this crystal by me, when it has so long been destined for you? As a Poet. Why? Because 'Your song is a fulsome refuge for me'. I am grateful to you because, before delighting the world with them, you sent your harmonious verses to me; they give my tools dreams and lend wings to the material which suddenly throbs with life."
Gallé wished to thank the man whose poetry fired his imagination. In his turn, he sent Montesquiou a poem fashioned from crystal. The artist's debt is written on it twice: in a dedication under the flask and in four lines engraved on the body of the bottle, taken from Monstrances, the eighty-fourth piece in The Bats, published in 1892.
Technically, the vase is a scholarly, studied piece, both in the composition of the material and in the fashioning of the décor. Its style is influenced by Chinese pierre dure vases and medieval sources, as the stand evokes a capital in a Gothic cathedral.
But its success derives more particularly from Gallé's ability to suggest a natural phenomenon: the ripening of the grapes in the sunshine (gold and platinum flecks), their transformation into a heady liquor (the range of purplish tones) then into alcoholic vapour, (the opalescent swirls on the stopper).
In the meantime, at the beginning of 1893, Gallé had given Montesquiou Mysterious Grapes. As Montesquiou had asked him why, Gallé wrote: "In what capacity have you been sent this crystal by me, when it has so long been destined for you? As a Poet. Why? Because 'Your song is a fulsome refuge for me'. I am grateful to you because, before delighting the world with them, you sent your harmonious verses to me; they give my tools dreams and lend wings to the material which suddenly throbs with life."
Gallé wished to thank the man whose poetry fired his imagination. In his turn, he sent Montesquiou a poem fashioned from crystal. The artist's debt is written on it twice: in a dedication under the flask and in four lines engraved on the body of the bottle, taken from Monstrances, the eighty-fourth piece in The Bats, published in 1892.
Technically, the vase is a scholarly, studied piece, both in the composition of the material and in the fashioning of the décor. Its style is influenced by Chinese pierre dure vases and medieval sources, as the stand evokes a capital in a Gothic cathedral.
But its success derives more particularly from Gallé's ability to suggest a natural phenomenon: the ripening of the grapes in the sunshine (gold and platinum flecks), their transformation into a heady liquor (the range of purplish tones) then into alcoholic vapour, (the opalescent swirls on the stopper).
Artist(s)
auteur
Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) (France) 1846 - Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) (France) 1904
Title(s)
titre principal : Raisins mystérieux
titre principal : Raisins mystérieux
Date
1892
Others accession number
Accession number
OAO 1376
Description
flacon, verre à deux couches à inclusions métalliques (or et platine), cabochons appliqués à chaud, décor gravé à la roue, bouchon en verre soufflé opalescent, socle en poirier sculpté et teinté
Dimensions
H. 40,0 ; L. 12,5 cm.
Designation
verre
socle
Inscription(s)
Signature, date et dédicace sous la pièce : Emile Gallé/au Comte R. de Montesquiou/au bon poète qui inspire les verriers/1892
Inscription gravée en creux et en relief sur la panse : Leurs grappes de clartés, leurs pulpes de lumière,/Raisins mystérieux .../Où l'espalier divin a des treilles de flammes/Dont les feux sont des pleurs et les grains des yeux!/Montesquiou
Inscription gravée en creux et en relief sur la panse : Leurs grappes de clartés, leurs pulpes de lumière,/Raisins mystérieux .../Où l'espalier divin a des treilles de flammes/Dont les feux sont des pleurs et les grains des yeux!/Montesquiou
Place of conservation
musée d'Orsay
- de 1892 à 1921, dans la collection comte Robert de Montesquiou (1855-1921)
- de 1922 à 1966, dans la collection Mme Robert Chevalier, née Geneviève Gallé (1885-1966)
- de 1966 à 2000, dans la collectionde M. et Mme Jean Bourgogne (1903-1999), petit-fils d'Emile Gallé
- 2000, don de Mme Jean Bourgogne et de ses enfants, en souvenir de Jean Bourgogne (1903-1999) petit-fils d'Emile Gallé par l'intermédiaire de la Société des Amis du Musée d'Orsay (comité du 23/03/2000, conseil du 29/03/2000, arrêté du 18/04/2000)
- 2000, attribué au musée d'Orsay
Modality of acquisition
don
Acquistion Date
2000
- Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts - palais du Champ-de-Mars - France, Paris, 1893, n°311/2
- Exposition d'art décoratif et industriel lorrain - galeries Poirel - France, Nancy, 1894
- Lorraine - Marche de France - hôtel de Rohan - France, Paris, 1967, n°459
- Gallé - musée du Luxembourg - France, Paris, 1985-1986
- L'Ecole de Nancy 1889-1909 - Art Nouveau et industries d'art - galeries Poirel - France, Nancy, 1999
- Robert de Montesquiou ou l'art de paraître - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 1999-2000
- Roger Marx, un critique aux côtés de Gallé, Monet, Rodin, Gauguin... - musée des Beaux-Arts - France, Nancy, 2006, n° 67
- Emile Gallé, 170th anniversary - Suntory museum of art - Japon, Tokyo, 2016
- Enfin le cinéma ! Arts, images et spectacles en France (1833-1907) - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2021-2022
General bibliography
-
Thiébaut, Philippe, 48/14 La revue du Musée d'Orsay, "Nouvelles acquisitions", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2001, p. 48-49
-
Thiébaut, Philippe, La Revue du Louvre et des musées de France, "Le Flacon Raisins mystérieux. Un hommage d'Emile Gallé au comte Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2003, avril 2003 , p. 79-88
Exposition catalog
-
Anonyme, Gallé, cat.exp. (Paris, musée du Luxembourg, 29 novembre-2 février 1986), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1985, n° 107, p. 193-195
-
Loyer, François ; Bouvier, Roselyne ; Olivié, Jean-Luc ; Thiébaut, Philippe, L'Ecole de Nancy, 1889-1909. Art nouveau et industries d'art, cat.exp. (Nancy, musée des beaux-arts), Nancy, galeries Poirel, 24 avril-26 juillet 1999, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1999, n° 95, p. 71 ; p. 298
-
Thiébaut, Philippe ; Nectoux, Jean-Michel, Robert de Montesquiou ou l'art de paraître, cat. exp. (Paris, musée d'Orsay, du 12/10/1999 au 23/01/2000), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1999, n° 95, p. 78
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