Russell Collection Inventory

French painter, graphic artist, architect and theorist of art. Son of a Swiss cabinetmaker. Naturalized as a French citizen in 1891. In Paris, he began by designing fabrics and carpets. Between 1881 and 1883, he made illustrations for “L’histore des 4 fils d’Aymon,” inspired by medieval paintings. He contributed to various magazines: “Le Courrier Francais,” “Paris Illustre," "La Revue Illustre." He made designs for furniture, tapestry, embroidery, faience, mosaics, stained-glass windows, and furniture for Charles Gillot, fireplace and lantern of the Chat Noir cabaret from 1879-1881, mosaics for the church of Saint-Etienne de Briare of 1893-1897; windows for the Cathedral of Orleans, representing the life of Joan of Arc, 1893; the windows of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, 1900. Very prolific, Grasset made posters, decorative panels, and calendars, as well as playing cards and designs for postage stamps. Taught a class in decorative arts drawing at the Ecole Guerin in Paris. 1898-1899: his book “The Plant and its Ornamental Applications,” appeared, followed in 1905 by “The Method of Ornamental Composition.” Grasset’s work has a fundamental place in the pantheon of Art Nouveau, and his conception of art contributed to a certain democratization of it.

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