Design for a ceiling
second half 19th century
Medium
Graphite, pen and black ink, gouache, and watercolor
Dimensions
Overall: 8 1/4 x 10 11/16 in. (21 x 27.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.470
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate "Design for a Ceiling by French architects Jules-EdmondCharles Lachaise andène-Pierre Gourdet dates to the second half of 19th century, a period when ornate interior decoration flourished in Europe amid the grandeur of Second Empire style and Haussmannian renovations in Paris. Created as a collaborative preparatory drawing, it exemplifies the meticulous planning required for lavish architectural spaces, where ceilings often served as dramatic canvases for motifs blending classical symmetry with emerging eclectic tastes. Executed in graphite, pen and black ink, gouache, and water...
About the Artist
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise|Eugène-Pierre Gourdet · 1897–1897
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, born Jules Lachaise on September 2, 1836, in Paris, emerged as a prominent French painter and draughtsman specializing in lavish interior decorations during the Second Empire and beyond. Little is known about his early life and formal training, though he married Berthe Gourdet in 1866, forging a close professional partnership with her brother, the decorator Eugène-Pi...