Peinture decorative : Panneaux executés dans les ateliers de Arthur Martin et reproduits par la photographie
Published: Paris: Ducher & Cie. 1882.
Contains 12 illustrated plates
Bequest of John Ringling, 1936
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Peinture decorative : Panneaux executés dans les ateliers de Arthur Martin et reproduits par la photographie
Peinture decorative : Panneaux executés dans les ateliers de Arthur Martin et reproduits par la photographie is part of the John Ringling library collection at The Ringling Art Library. After his death, the portfolio was found in John Ringling’s walk-in closet on top of a bookshelf stacked with other oversized portfolios located in his personal office in Ca’d’Zan.
Sarah Burris, museum library intern for summer 2013, has begun digitizing portfolios from the John Ringling library collection. She chose to digitize Peinture decorative : panneaux executés dans les ateliers de Arthur Martin et reproduits par la photographie in part because that there are only three copies cataloged through Worldcat– The Ringling Museum of Art Library (Sarasota, FL US), Sächsische Landesbibliothek (Dresden, Germany), National Art Library Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK). Digitization not only preserves the illustrated pages from future wear and tear, but it also allows for increased public accessibility. The book is now in the public domain having been published in 1882 and the copyright has not been renewed. The main reason she chose Peinture decorative for digitization is because the whimsical imagery from Arthur Martin’s Studio is simply too delightful not to be shared.
Peinture decorative contains twelve reproduced photographic plates of decorative mural illustrations on Bristol board. The panels were designed by the Arthur Martin Studio based in Paris, France, which was in operation from 1860 to 1914 (Kerry, 170). The Arthur Martin Studio produced Neo-Classical, also known as Neo-Louis XVI or French Third Republic, designs for decorative textiles, wallpapers, and paintings. Arthur Martin designs were popular in the late 19th century, especially patterns for woven silks produced by several large textile manufacturing companies including Maison Grand Frères and Mathevon et Vouvard (Kerry, 170). Examples of the woven designs are housed in renowned textile collections such as the Musée des Tissues (Lyon, France), Cummersdale Design Collection, and The Art Institute of Chicago.
This portfolio features six figures each representing the arts, the four seasons, and two decorative paintings for the top of a piano. The six allegorical female figures depict dance, music, painting, sculpture, lyric poetry, and astronomy. Putti iconography, vases with flowers, ornaments and architectural motifs often reoccur within the Arthur Martin designs (Bouzard, 63). The decorative paintings for the piano were commissioned by Monsieur Henri-August Fordinois (1830-1907), a Neo-Louis XVI furniture maker.
If you would like to explore additional images of work designed by the Arthur Martin Studio:
The Art Institute of Chicago
Lelievre Paris Fabric Collection
Cummersdale Design Collection Brochure
Bibliography:
Bouzard, Marie. La Soierie Lyonnaise du XVIIIe au XXe siècle dans les collections du musée des Tissues de Lyon. Lyon: Ed. Lyonnaises d’art et d’histoire : Société des Amis des musées de la Chambre de commerce, 1997.
Cercle de la librairie. Bibliographie de la France – Journal Général de l’imprimerie et de la librarie. Paris, France: Cercle de la librairie, 1881.
Kerry, Sue. Neo-Classicism to Pop: Part I – Late 18th & 19th Century Textiles. Easthampton, MA: Francesca Galloway, 2007.
Martin, A. Peinture décorative : Panneaux executés dans les ateliers de Arthur Martin et reproduits par la photographie. Paris: Ducher & Cie, 1882.
The Ringling Art Library 