[Art Nouveau] La plante et ses Applications ornementales

sous la direction de M. Eugene Grasset (1845-1917). Paris, Librairie centrale des Beaux-arts, 1896. 1 vol. (of 2). Book of plates in flower and plant motifs to be adapted for decoration. Folio of 72 plates. Cont. binding with marble paper. Lacking 23 plates, spine and corners of binding worn, slight foxing, otherwise in good condition.

Eugène Samuel Grasset was a Swiss decorative artist who worked in Paris, France in a variety of creative design fields during the Belle Époque. He is considered a pioneer in Art Nouveau design. In addition to being one of the most in-demand graphic artists of the late nineteenth century, Grasset was also a teacher and theorist. After years of expounding his influential theories at various art and design schools of Paris, in 1896 he published La plante et ses applications ornementales, a pictorial summation of his key idea concerning the use of natural forms as the basis for developing decorative motifs. The work featured designs from his students, incl. a.o.: Paul Berthon; Augusto Giacometti; Arsène Herbinier; Juliette Milési; Otto Ernst Schmidt; Auguste Silice; and Maurice Pillard Verneuil. A work of beautiful designs with vibrant col.