What is remarkable about Nancy is that its architectural heritage spans many centuries. I could easily have created a photo essay about its mediaeval town or its rococo square, Place Stanislas. But it is the art nouveau that somehow catches everyone by surprise. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 when Alsace and part of Lorraine were ceded to Germany, many artists in the occupied territories emigrated to Nancy, then on the border of France. Together with the native French, they created a unique style, called the Nancy school of art nouveau. Its main features were the mixing of materials (brick, wood, glass, ceramics & iron), the big reference to nature, the ‘Japonnairie’, and the reference to Gothic.
[Click on the images to enlarge]
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- Villa Majorelle: detail showing all five materials characterising Nancy’s art nouveau.
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- Internal staircase of Hotel de Ville
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- Door from the house of Lucien Weissenburger, one of the artists who left Alsace after the Prussian annexation of 1871,
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- “Mort du cygne” art nouveau piano by Louis Majorelle and Victor Prouve
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- Art nouveau lamps
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- Art nouveau ceramics by Henri Bergé
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- Henri Bergé stained glass, “La Lecture”
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- Lit Aube et Crepuscule – A bedroom inspired by dawn and dusk by Emile Gallé
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- Art nouveau furniture by Louis Majorelle
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- The Masson dining room suite; pieces by Eugéne Vallin & Victor Prouvé.
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- Pharmacy on rue St Georges
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- Balconies on Cours Leopold; note the play with the brick materials.
Suggestions to visit:
Villa Majorelle visits only by appointment Sat, Sun 2:30pm and 3:45pm. Ask at the Ecole de Nancy museum below or the Tourist Office of Nancy.
Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy 36-38 rue de Sergent Blandan
Rue Félix-Faure, a 1900-1910 Estate in Nancy designed by César Pain.
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