ESQUISSES DECORATIVES

BINET, Rene.  ESQUISSES DECORATIVES.        

Paris: Librarie Centrale des Beaux Arts, (circa 1903-1905). Folio. Portfolio (18 x 13 1/2 inches), contemporary marbled boards, cloth spine.  As issued in original 4 decorated wrappers. (2), 14, (2) pages, 60 lithographic plates. first edition.

Rene Binet, an architect is best known for his Magasins du Printemps in Paris, and for the  grand entrance to the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900.  Like many of the architect/designers of this period, Binet created designs in most areas of the applied arts.  This folio has architectural details, and designs for furniture, jewellery, wallpaper, light fittings, wrought iron, etc. somewhat apart from mainstream French Art nouveau, many inspired by the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel's beautiful detailed drawings of marine micro-organisms which had become much admired by the 1890's, especially in Germany by Jugendstil designers such as Obrist, Endell, Etc.  But Binet's work is still firmly French.  This is an exposition of ideals for every school of design that Binet could encompass -- from architectural detail to pochoir graphics; shop fronts to tapestry; stained glass to gardens; jewellery to mosaics.  Each of the sixty plates  is printed in a base color (black, grey, sepia, dark green, etc.), twelve of which are fully colored by pochoir and a further four partly colored by pochoir with one or two colors.  Wrappers browned with some surface soiling; first one splitting at fold. 

 

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