The Essential Rene Lalique [Hardcover]

William Warmus (Author)

Book Description

Series: Essential (Harry N. Abrams) | Publication Date: May 1, 2003

As former MMA director Thomas Hoving wrote, "Lalique has become a vital force in the universe of decorative arts." He did for glass what Coco Chanel did for fashion. Lalique, like Chanel, is readily identifiable, unique, and at the same time accessible to those who love it. Yet Lalique's genius extends beyond the decorative arts, as his work reflects his evolution from jeweler to glassmaker to architectural artist. Truly a renaissance man, Lalique created unique one of-a-kind artworks as well as multi-piece mass-produced table settings, and was never afraid of a challenge, even if it meant producing architectural components for the gigantic cruise ships of the era or a working bathtub made entirely of glass. In The Essential Rene Lalique, readers will learn that he: was one of the first multimedia artists. played a leading role in the two distinctly unique artistic movements of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. created works that embraced the necks of beautiful women, caressed the lips of industrial tycoons, and reflected crowds of passengers aboard the Titanic cruise ship.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Warmus is a writer, critic, and former curator at The Corning Museum of Glass. He lives near Ithaca, New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810958368
• ISBN-13: 978-0810958364
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,627,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lalique Illustrations, December 17, 2003

By 

William Warmus (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Rene Lalique (Hardcover)

As the author of the Essential Rene Lalique, I'd like to address the issue Mark Waller raised in his review at Amazon.com concerning the images used in the book. Abrams and its partner, Wonderland Press, chose not to use the list of images I submitted with my manuscript, and they also chose not to inform me of their selections. The first time I saw the illustrations was when they sent me a copy of the published book. I too share his frustration at this missed opportunity to present better material.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Harry Abrams what happened!, July 15, 2003

By 

Mark Waller (New York, London.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Rene Lalique (Hardcover)

A Book on the antiques field that proclaims on its back cover "be an expert in 5 minutes" (only), has a long way to go to impress me, it has to be said. However the author plainly knows his 20th century glass history and has done his homework on the man, but clearly does not know Lalique' s work or glass. The photos are the same old Christie image collection that might work for an auction catalogue but are dangerously out of context in the hands of an academic. The Images duplicate many of the cataloging errors of the worst type by a junior at Christies-one caption -Car ornaments, perfume bottles and an ink well.
All in all I was sad that Harry N Abrams whose son was a client of mine, who once quoted his father as saying "you should get a hernia taking one of my books off the shelf!" Has, as a first step into a book on this great artist , chosen to produce this diminutive disappointment.