Commemorating the 120th Anniversary of His Death
Émile Gallé: Longing for Paris
Émile Gallé (1846-1904) was heir to his father’s business in Nancy, an ancient city in Lorraine in north-eastern France. That business manufactured and sold luxury glass and ceramics. Building on that background, Émile Gallé achieved success and a brilliant reputation by developing a unique world embodied in glass, ceramics, and furniture. Late in life, in 1901, he brought together a group of thirty-six local artists to found the École de Nancy, an alliance of professionals engaged in the industrial arts, of which he became the first chairman.
Gallé was a local celebrity, but the Gallé brand was known worldwide. His path to international success brought him to Paris, the capital, a city overflowing with the arts in which many wealthy customers were concentrated. While his company’s products continued to be produced in Nancy, as they were in his father’s generation, they were displayed in a showroom in Paris with consignment sales to the wealthy handled by a sales agent. Gallé himself frequently spent time in Paris, visiting the stores with which he did business. In 1878, 1889, and 1900, he presented new works at the Paris World Exposition (Paris Expo), an important international stage on which to introduce his products. From 1889 on, his ties to high society deepened and his reputation spread. As, however, his letters to friends reveal, he felt extreme, “almost unthinkable” pressure from the social dilemmas created by these ties. Just four years after the 1900 Paris Expo, Gallé died, succumbing to leukemia.
In this exhibition, we trace the development of Gallé’s creativity, focusing on his relationship with the much-admired Paris on which his reputation was built. A brilliant reputation, plus suffering, then further development…. we ask ourselves if Gallé’s success could have been achieved anywhere else but on the stage provided by Paris, the world capital of art in his time. We welcome you to join us in this quest.
Toyama Glass Art Museum Floors 2-3, Exhibition Rooms 1-3
Saturday, November 2, 2024 – Sunday, January 26, 2025
Sun.-Thu.9:30-18:00
(admission until 17:30)
Fri.-Sat. 9:30-20:00 (admission until 19:30)
First and Third Wednesdays, December 29-January 1, January 8
Toyama Glass Art Museum
AMBASSADE DE FRANCE AU JAPON / INSTITUT FRANÇAIS DU JAPON, THE KITANIPPON SHIMBUN, THE TOYAMA SHIMBUN, Japan Broadcasting Corporation Toyama Station,Kitanihon Broadcasting Co., Ltd., TOYAMA TELEVISION BROADCASTING CO., LTD., TULIP-TV INC.
Admission
General Public:1200 yen (1000 yen)/University and College Students 1000 yen (800 yen)
*High school students and younger: free
*( ) for group of 20 or more.
*The ticket also gives admission to the Permanent Exhibition.
Paris, musée des Arts décoratifs © Les Arts Décoratifs / Christophe Dellière
Paris, musée des Arts décoratifs 🄫 Les Arts Décoratifs
Paris, musée des Arts décoratifs 🄫 Les Arts Décoratifs / Laurent-Sully Jaulmes
＊The creator of all works is Émile Gallé
*Reproduction of photos are prohibited.
Access
○20-minute walk.
○Take the tram (Shinaidensha) for Minamitoyamaeki-mae. Get off at Nishicho. 1-minute walk.
○Take the Loop Line tram (Shinaidensha Kanjō-sen). Get off at Grand Plaza-mae. 2-minute walk. (Tram takes approx. 10 minutes from Toyama Sta. to Nishicho/Grand Plaza-mae.)
○Take the Airport Bus to Toyama Station (Airport Express Bus/Local Bus (Route no.36)) and get off at Sogawa. 4-minute walk.
〒930-0062
5-1 Nishicho, Toyama City, Toyama 930-0062, Japan
TEL 076-461-3100
FAX 076-461-3310
https://www.toyama-glass-art-museum.jp/en/
