Rene Lalique: Part 1

Whilst there appears to be somewhat of a mystery surrounding his childhood, it is known that Rene Jules Lalique, the only child of Jules and Olympe Berthellemy Lalique, came into this world on the 6th April 1860. The family, at that time was living about a hundred miles to the northeast of Paris, in Ay, a village in the Champagne region of France and they continued to do so for another two years following Rene's birth.

In 1862 the whole family moved to Paris where Rene’s father worked as a merchant dealing in novelties. But the Lalique family made frequent trips back to their roots, to visit family and friends and to stay in touch with their rural past. This is where Rene’s love of nature began to develop and, whilst on these visits, he used to take walks with his grandfather into the surrounding countryside and forests to observe nature at very close quarters. Everything from animals to plant life and insects came under his close scrutiny. The wondrous shapes and flowing curves that nature graced his world with fascinated him.

His education started at Turgot Lycee, near the Paris suburb of Vincennes, where he studied, amongst the usual subjects, art. And was awarded first prize in a drawing competition at some point during his time there.

At age 16, shortly after his father’s death, Rene, probably steered by his mother, began his apprenticeship with Louis Aucoc, one of the leading Parisian luxury jewelers, making rococo styled jewelry. With Louis’ guidance, Rene learned the tools and materials of his trade and the necessary skills to create the things of beauty that adorned the society people of the day. To enhance his education; he also took evening classes at a local school of decorative arts.

In 1878, having completed his training in Paris, Rene moved to Sydenham; a suburb of London, England where he studied at the Crystal Palace School of Art, Science and Literature. Although Crystal Palace had originally stood in Hyde Park in the center of London, this was only to accommodate the Great Exhibition of 1851 and by 1852; the structure had been sold to a consortium, dismantled and then re-sited. Lalique studied here for a further two years.

Rene loved London with its museums and spent hours of his free time visiting them, particularly the British and the South Kensington Museums. At that time, British art colleges and schools were far more forward-looking than their European counterparts. Rene soaked up this progressiveness and this is where he laid the foundation for his unique style of jewelry design, by mixing this modern-thinking with the flowing curves of nature, which he so dearly loved, he developed and adopted a naturalistic style that would eventually become the Lalique trademark

<< Previous   Next >>