Three-leaf mahogany screen 1900 signed Felix Bernard
Charming Art Nouveau period small three-leaf screen or mantel screen in carved mahogany decorated with embroidery on silk representing birds. The wooden panels are carved with stylized leaves and chestnut fruits. Each leaf is decorated with a bird embroidered on an Indian yellow wild silk. The upper part is openworked with six beveled glass panes set in place. Each panel is carved in the form of arabesques, in a fully Art Nouveau taste. The whole, foldable, rests on four small curved feet ending in a hoof. The central panel is slightly larger than the other two.
This small screen is signed "F. Bernard Nancy" on the central sheet.
Felix Bernard (19th-20th) was a cabinetmaker from Nancy who worked at 6 rue de la Salpêtrière in Nancy at the end of the 19th century. His work is in the style of Emile Gallé and Louis Majorelle, he is classified in the productions called "School of Nancy".
Circa: 1900
Dim: W: 149cm, D: 4cm, H: 133cm.
Dim: W: 58,7in, D: 1,6in, H: 52,4in.
Condition report: In good general condition.
Art Nouveau or the triumph of the curved line
Stemming from the romantic theories of the 19th century, Art Nouveau is based on the break with classicism and in reaction to a society in full industrialization. Quickly considered as an international movement, the Art Nouveau called "Tiffany" in the United States, "Arts and Crafts" in England, "Jugenstil" in Germany, "Stile Liberty" in Italy is imposed in France from the early 1890s. It was Siegfried Bing, a French art dealer, collector and patron of German origin, who gave the new style the name under which it is known today, by opening in 1895 an art gallery that he called "L'Art nouveau". This new style did not impose any rules on artists. The norms of austere academicism are pulverized, to make Art Nouveau a transgressive art at the center of which nature, women and eroticism become essential elements. The artists join internationally, in the arabesque form, organic, fluid, and the reference to sensuality. In Art Nouveau, ornamentation is an integral part of the structure of the work.
