Design for the decoration of a beamed ceiling
Medium
graphite, watercolor, and gold paint on wove paper; inlaid in blue wove paper
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.366
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the grand tradition of 19th-century French decorative arts, *Design for the Decoration of Beamed Ceiling* (ca. 1840–97) by Jules-Ed-Charles Lachaise and Eugène-Pierre Gourdet the opulence of Second Empire interiors. These collaborative architects and designers envisioned elaborate ceiling treatments for affluent homes or public spaces, where exposed wooden beams were transformed into canvases of intricate ornamentation. The drawing reflects the era's fascination with historicism, blending neoclassical motifs with lavish embellishments to evoke Renaissance grandeur. Rendered in graphite, wa...
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...