Ernest Boiceau
{{Infobox person
| name =Ernest Boiceau
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = 30 November 1881
| birth_place = Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
| death_date = {{death-date and age|16 March 1950|30 November 1881}}
| nationality = Swiss
| other_names =
| occupation = Designer
| years_active =
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Ernest Boiceau (30 November 1881 – 16 March 1950), born in French-speaking Lausanne, was a Swiss designer and decorator of the interwar period.
Biography
Born in a family of bankers, Ernest Boiceau received training in Munich, then studied drawing, painting and architecture at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.{{cite book|title=Art Deco and Modernist Carpets|author=Susan Day|publisher=Chronicle Books|year=2002|page=185}} From 1900 to 1910, he traveled and painted landscapes and portraits.Swiss Institute for Art Research [http://www.sikart.ch/KuenstlerInnen.aspx?id=11969284 sikart.ch]
Starting in the 1910s, Boiceau dedicated himself to embroidery, passementerie and upholstery in his workshop, rue des Moulins in Paris, working initially for fashion houses and theatre costume designers.{{cite web|title=Ernest Boiceau: A Pair of Cornely Silk Embroidered Curtains with Matching Tiebacks, circa 1925|year=2015|publisher=Sotheby's|url=http://www.sothebys.com/fr/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.30.html/2015/design-20-siecle-pf1514}} In 1912 he collaborated with John Jacobson on a tapestry exhibited at the Galliera museum in Paris.{{cite news|title=An Embroidery Exhibition at the Musée Galliera, Paris|newspaper=International Studio|volume=47|year=1912|pages=306|url=https://archive.org/stream/internationalstu47newy#page/305/mode/1up}} At the beginning of the war, in 1914, he organised a branch of the Swiss committee to help Belgian refugees.(fr) Le Matin : derniers télégrammes de la nuit
1914/10/31 [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k571061d/f4.item.r=%22Ernest%20Boiceau%22.zoom Gallica French Archives]
In 1920, he opened a boutique on the Avenue de l'Opéra,Olivier Watelet [http://watelet.fr/galerie/en/biographie.php?artiste=YToyOntzOjM6Im5vbSI7czo3OiJCT0lDRUFVIjtzOjY6InByZW5vbSI7czo2OiJFcm5lc3QiO30= watelet.fr] by that time, his exquisitely refined work as an embroiderer had become renowned. He supplied embroidered, beaded or sequined theatrical costumes for various venues like the opera, the Comédie-Française' theater and Parisian revues such as the Folies Bergère or Moulin Rouge. He also worked for master couturiers like Edward Molyneux or Worth.(fr) Art et décoration : revue mensuelle d'art moderne [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61324891/f108.item.r=Boiceau.zoom Gallica, French Archives, Pages 93 to 96]
In 1924, he started creating objects and furniture in stately neoclassical style, and completed his first tapestry. In 1928, he opened a new office dedicated to interior decoration on rue Pierre Charron in Paris.Galerie Willy Huybrechts [https://archive.today/20160114180132/http://willy-huybrechts.com/en/artists/ernest-boiceau willy-huybrechts.com]
He patented the Point de Cornely, an embroidery stitch derived from Emile Cornely's research in 1865,Digital Mechanism and Gear Library
[http://www.dmg-lib.org/dmglib/main/biogrViewer_content.jsp?id=24473004&skipSearchBar=1 dmg-lib.org][http://www.invaluable.co.uk/auction-lot/ernest-boiceau-1881-1950-551-c-9bb333b240 invaluable.co.uk] and began to apply this technique to his own creations in 1924–1925. An article published in L'Art vivant in 1927 praised this technique enlivening artworks' surfaces.
His participation as a decorator in the Salon d'Automne in 1928 and 1929 brought him national and international recognition.Benezit Dictionary of Artists [http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00021912?rskey=I4sJwP&result=1 oxfordindex.oup.com]
Until 1935, he created objects, lighting, furniture made of rare wood species such as macassar, amaranth, sycamore or arecaceae sometimes with ivory or ebony inlays, as well as sumptuous carpets woven and embellished with Point de Cornely.
Boiceau became very sought after, he then opened another shop on Avenue Matignon and decided to devote himself entirely to decoration. He deeded the embroidery workshop to his employees, who in turn created an embroidery and fashion accessories company named Felix and company.(fr) Caudry: L’héritage d’un brodeur d’art exposé au musée des dentelles, February 28, 2015 [http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/caudry-l-heritage-d-un-brodeur-d-art-expose-au-ia14b45240n2686517 lavoixdunord.fr].
He worked with designers and architects in vogue at the time such as Elsie de Wolfe, David Adler and his sister Frances Adler Elkins among others, offering his own designs created in rich and varied materials including colored glass, light colored leather and bronze.
Among Boiceau's distinguished clients were Princess Bibesco, B. Boutet de Monvel, Louis Cartier, Mrs.Fenwick, Harold Macmillan, Cécile Sorel, the two brothers writers Jérôme Tharaud and Jean Tharaud, Louise de Vilmorin, Mr. Wendel and Jean-Charles Worth.Patricia Dane Roger: Showcasing French Design, October 5, 1989 [https://web.archive.org/web/20160822082612/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/home-garden//1989/10/05/showcasing-french-design/c1f59f4a-6e19-4384-bfc2-00befab83c9a/ washingtonpost.com]
Boiceau closed his business at the outbreak of World War II,{{cite book|title=Collection Yves Saint Laurent et Pierre Bergé|publisher=Christies|year=2009|page=170|url=https://archive.org/stream/CatalogArtsDcoratifsDuXxmeSicleYvesSaintLaurent/ArtsDcoratifsDuXxmeSicle#page/n177/mode/1up/search/Boiceau}} and died in the Vallée de Chevreuse (Essonne), not far from Paris in 1950.
Collection
Bibliography
- E Boiceau : London, Pavilion of Art & Design, Galerie Willy Huybrechts, October 13 – 17, 2010, Paris : Galerie Willy Huybrechts, 2010[http://www.worldcat.org/title/e-boiceau-london-pavilion-of-art-design-galerie-willy-huybrechts-13th-17th-october-2010/oclc/717692211?ht=edition&referer=br WorldCat]
- Philippe Julian, Les années'20 revues dans les années'70 chez Yves Saint Laurent, id., p. 105.Christies [http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/rugs-carpets/ernest-boiceau-tapis-aux-perruches-et-perroquets-5171307-details.aspx#top christies.com]
- Joan Juliet Buck, Chez Yves Saint Laurent, id. p. 96–97, p. 98–99.
- John Richardson, The Art of Yves Saint Laurent, id., p. 170–171, p. 172–173.
- Laurence Benaïm, Yves Saint Laurent, id17.
- Ernest Boiceau, décorateur-créateur, catalogue d'exposition, Galerie Eric Philippe, Paris, 198218.Galerie Eric Philippe [http://ericphilippe.com/catalogue_en.php ericphilippe.com]
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/arts/antiques-french-designer-decorators-in-the-style-of-luxe.html Nytimes, RITA REIF: French designer decorators in the style of luxe, 1989]
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=7xpJAQAAIAAJ&q=boiceau Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide to the Decorative Arts of the 1920s and 1930s, Thames & Hudson, 2009 ]
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Category:École des Beaux-Arts alumni
Category:Swiss furniture designers
Category:French furniture designers
Category:French interior designers