art.wikisort.org - Artist

Jean Elysée Puiforcat (pronounced pwee-for-KAH) (5 August 1897 – 20 October 1945) was a French silversmith, sculptor and designer.[1][2] Miller's Antiques Encyclopedia calls Puiforcat the "most important French Art Deco silversmith."[3]

Jean Puiforcat
Born	(1897-08-05)5 August 1897
Died	20 October 1945(1945-10-20) (aged 48)
Nationality	French
Known for	The "most important French Art Deco silversmith."
Style	Art Deco

Life and career

Puiforcat served in World War I. After the war, he apprenticed as a silversmith and a designer. He lived in Paris. He designed in the art deco style. His silver work had smooth surfaces and was based on the geometric series. Ivory, onyx, lapis lazuli, and rosewood were used to decorate pieces. He also used gilding. Puiforcat left Paris and moved to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, around 1927.[1] He worked briefly in Havana, Cuba from 1928 thru 1930. French painter and sculptor Henri Charlier who was born in the Montmartre quarter of Paris in 1883 was a good friend of Puiforcat. Henry and Puiforcat exchanged many letters which his daughter Alizabeth Charlier kept along with photos of a trip that her father Henri made to Havana. The photos were at the shop where Puiforcat and a cuban sculptor by the name of Juan Comas were sculpting lions to be cast in bronze for an important Havana Avenue. Puiforcat, Henri and Comas became acquainted during his stay in Havana. From one of his letters from Cuba, he wrote about how little credit had been given to the Cuban sculptor, only because he (Puiforcat) was famous. He seemed to admire Juan Comas' talent very much. Henri and Puiforcat kept the friendship and even met in Mexico around 1943. Puiforcat co-founded the Union des Artistes Modernes.[4] He started designing tableware and by 1934 he also had designed liturgical silver. In 1941, he moved to Mexico. After his move, he started exhibiting in the United States.[1] Puiforcat's name is synonymous with Art Deco glamour; even in his day, the important French silversmith was renowned for the elegant, often mathematical simplicity of his geometric forms and the unexpected combination of flawless metalwork with brilliantly polished hardstones, semiprecious stones, or glass.

Legacy

Andy Warhol collected Puiforcat silverware, which he acquired while visiting Paris in the 1970s. In 1988, Warhol memorabilia was sold at Sotheby's. The collection sold for $451,000 and a tureen with an aventurine decoration sold for $55,000.[4] Work by Puiforcat is held in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.[5][6] A chain of boutiques is named after him, which sell his designs and sculptures.[7]

References

На других языках

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[de] Jean Puiforcat

Jean-Émile Puiforcat, manchmal auch als Jean Elisée Puiforcat bekannt, (* 5. August 1897 in Paris; † 20. Oktober 1945 in Paris) war ein französischer Gold- und Silberschmied, Hersteller von Essbestecken, Bildhauer und Designer des Art déco.

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- [en] Jean Puiforcat

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[fr] Jean Puiforcat

Jean Puiforcat, né le 5 août 1897 dans le 3e arrondissement de Paris, ville où il est mort le 20 octobre 1945 dans le 8e arrondissement[1], est un orfèvre et créateur français.

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