It must have been a special time, with the relatively newly erected chimneys of industrialism rising between the rooftops of the cities, belching out their unhealthy clouds. A new era of mechanization, exhibitions in English crystal palaces with fern sofas, and inventions that surely impressed a few top hats or sent some parasols soaring. And right in the midst of all this, there was an aesthetic that was increasingly stuck, a repetition of older ideals and ornaments, crafted in walnut and mahogany for a subdued bourgeois taste.
And just then, there was an organic entry into the world of craftsmanship. An innovative return to nature, a glance towards the Orient, and voilà: Art Nouveau! A free, asymmetric emerging style that asserted itself more than anything else in the continent's glass art. And perhaps most of all in Emile Gallé's workshop. With the assistance of Crafoord Auctions in Lund, we now have 37 samples of the glass that, at the turn of the last century, amazed the world. You are warmly invited to examine and appreciate these elegant pieces that, over 100 years ago, reinvigorated the art of glass with their leaves, flowers, plants, butterflies, and everything that nature had to offer to the artists who looked forward in what soon became known as the new art!
