Designs for a ceiling and painted panel
Medium
graphite, pen and ink, watercolor on wove paper
Dimensions
Overall: 10 9/16 x 8 1/2 in. (26.8 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.287
Tags
Art Historical Context
Discover the elegance of 19th-century decorative design in *Designs for a Ceiling and Painted*, a collaborative work by architects Jules-Edmond- Lachaise and Eug-Pierre Gourdet (active ca. 1830–97). Created as preparatory sketches, these drawings envision ornate ceilings and painted panels, likely intended for lavish interiors during France's Romantic and Second Empire eras, when grandeur in architecture symbolized cultural prestige. Rendered on wove paper—a smooth, durable support favored for its precision—the artwork masterfully combines graphite for subtle shading, pen and ink for crisp li...
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...