Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 8. (Budapest, 1984)

VARGA, Vera: Art Nouveau art glasses

menting or application of new solutions and technics. Examining the functioning of the Gallé factory, we could see, that different designs were made for the studios and for serial production, respectively the execution of the individual pieces was checked by Gallé, himself. Examining the designs of the Gallé and Tiffany factory, sometimes we can realize a contradiction between the design of the desired decoration and the executing technics. Gallé's designs, like the executed works, are sometimes rather badly constructed, with excessivelly outstanding relief like decorations and strong colours, in spite of their perfection in technical execution. Gallé often designed forms of historical types, but these are always simple forms (it is characteristic, mainly in his early activity), but in his mature activity he used the form of Japanese ceramics and traditional European ceramic shapes. On the whole, we can state, that Gallé concentrated much more on the decoration or the possible message that the designing of forms. In connection with Gallé's glasses, executed after 1889, the critique often mentions the reproach of being unglassy. Off course that reproach is not at all unique, concerning Art Nouveau glasses. Every style wanted to give its own solution to the problem, that the execution must be in harmony with the basic material, and the way naturally depended on the given starting point and conditions. The glass artists of Art Nouveau, first Émile Gallé, searched for practical (in Gallé's artistic writings also theoretical) solution of a problem, ripended in the middle of the 19th century. Until the middle of the 19th century, in glass art two — but basically different styles lived parallelly — the so called blown glass style (the expression, style, here denotes the way of the forming of glass, rather than real 7. Vase (ornamental chalice), Camille Tutré de Varreux (de Vez), c. after 1900. Double layered, engraved and acid-etched glass body, with carved stem, made of transport glass. Ht. 23,5 cm. stylistic categories) and crystal glass style, which two styles, during the history of glass used to succeed each other. On theoretical level John Ruskin was the first, who dealt with the problem of loyalty to the material, itself, in his work, entitled The Stones of Venice (1851), he attacked the crystal glass style, which had 107