Marcel Corrette (1896-1946) Study Of New Zealand Gloxinia, Gouache Pencil And Watercolor

Marcel CORRETTE
Fennervilliers 1896 - Nancy 1946

Study of Rhabdothamnus Solandri or New Zealand Gloxinia
Gouache pencil and watercolor
Name of the plant noted by the artist at the top right
47 x 60 cm
Very good condition

Furniture and decoration designer for the Majorelle family during the heyday of the Nancy School, Marcel Corrette helped introduce the Art Deco style, which was still influenced by Art Nouveau. Between 1920 and 1930, he created numerous glass paste objects with the ceramist and designer of glass paste objects Amalric Walter.
The herbariums available to artists were a real source of inspiration for Art Nouveau, which was booming at the end of the 19th century. The Nancy School was one of its most important European centers. If nature was an infinite source of inspiration for the artists of the Nancy School, it was no coincidence. This is explained by the undeniable horticultural reputation of Nancy. Indeed, in 1877 the Société Centrale d'Horticulture de Nancy was created, the general secretariat of which was provided by Emile Gallée, both artist and botanist. Through numerous works and exhibitions, the Nancy Horticultural Society contributed greatly to spreading the interest in plants for artists. The study of plants from nature is therefore fundamental to explaining the success of this movement in Nancy. In the series of drawings by Marcel Corrette that we present, we can see that the representation of plants oscillates between a naturalistic vision and a certain stylization. To achieve this decorative stylization that will serve him to create ornaments used by the decorative art workshops in Nancy for which he collaborates (glass paste objects, vases, jewelry, furniture), the artist represents plants from different angles to better isolate certain aspects such as rhythm, color and certain geometric structures in order to extract a decorative motif.