Siegfried Bing, Bang, Bank

Siegfried Bing stylized everyday objects to be beautiful.  He seemed to be the innovator of the Art Nouveau movement.  At least the term was coined after the naming of his gallery in the 1890s.    You can’t explain Bing’s concepts without some history of how he got to it.

He came from background of porcelain manufacturing.  Maybe because of the mundane mass produced objects that he viewed every day he chose to explore new decorative fields.  He wanted the objects to feel more unique.  The world offered diversity that he wanted to bring back to the workers in his factory.  Once the East became open to the west, many artists would incorporate those influences into their work.  Bing was not an artist but more of an entrepreneur with a good eye for beauty.  He opened an import store, selling all types of Japanese curiosities. This venture was a success and led him to travel to Japan where he witnessed the culture.  He love the simple symbolic nature based art. While there, he collected all sorts of objects for everyday use including combs, tools, dishes, and vases.

Upon his return to France he investigated different mediums of art, like glass works and enameling. He joined communities of people with Asian interests.  One of his good friends had completely transformed his land into tranquility gardens. Another imported Asian prints.  He visited Tiffany productions. And he invested in the young up and coming artists of the day, like Moris Denis, Toulous Le Trec, Bonnard, Galliard, Defeur and Colonar.   A culmination of all the diversity and his continuing love of beauty in household objects led him in a new direction.  It seems he was trying to incorporate what he experienced in other cultures into his French background. He was innovative and chose to transform his gallery. He hired new artists to create the home from top to bottom, from household furnishings to jewelry in an expressive way. Everyone he chose had a knack for simplistic stylized forms that looked derived from nature and plants. He didn’t want to directly copy nature just to take on its forms.

The new gallery was renovated to reflect all aspects of this modern concept.  He named it Salon de L’art Nouveau.   The salon along with an exposition at the World’s Fair in 1900 showcased rooms that contained every item of use. All were fresh and modern objects.  He wanted to bring world artists into France but was criticized for not having enough representation of French artists.  And yet critics were quick to the use of the name Art Nouveau to describe many works of art that reflected the curvy natural feel of that time, which he had nurtured into being.

Like all styles that define a time period, new ideas replace the old.  People quit wanting the product and he eventually sold his gallery and works.  He was rich at the height of Art Nouveau and these beautiful pieces continue to be collectors items to this day.