A chronicle of scholarly research and auctions watch on Émile Gallé and Art Nouveau craftwork
Welcome to NANCI, my Newsletter on Art Nouveau Craftwork & Industry. I will post excerpts on my research regarding the French Art Nouveau craftwork and industry, with a focus on the École de Nancy in general (hence the acronym), Émile Gallé and the Établissements Gallé in particular.
In this newsletter, you will find :
• An in depth historical research on the main actors of the industry for the 1870-1930 period, beginning with Émile Gallé and his team of designers.
• Detailed analysis of some important artworks as well as of some guides about more common industrial series.
• A watch of the related contemporary auctions market in order to highlight the most interesting and uncommon items, and to correct misattributions of date or authorship.
My goal is to post these in my admittedly imperfect English, to be accessible to the widest audience, but I will probably publish the most important posts in French as well.
The reason why I am starting this newsletter is the realisation that I spend way too much time commenting posts on Facebook groups, posting valuable information, even unpublished original research, on subthreads which will be hard to find only a few weeks after, lost in the flurry of posts picturing some collectors’ treasured pieces – which are great in their own way, of course. So, I’ve been thinking for some time about beginning my own website, to have a place where I can share this research in progress, discuss it with interested parties, while keeping a record before it’s published in a scientific manner.
It looks like Substack is offering a new way of self-publishing, which allows a measure of control and monetization of the readership, via the subscription model, that other blog-like platforms do not have. For the record, I have a long but mixed experience on blogging and publishing online (my first blog was an excavation journal – I am an archaeologist by trade – back in 2000). I have considered using a more traditional outlet for scholars, like the hypotheses.org publishing site. But since I will be posting directly about the Art Nouveau Antiques market or providing information somewhat valuable to Antiques sellers and auctioneers for their trade, I would like to keep open the option of a premium subscription, if the publication is successful enough, and at the minimum retain my authorship’s rights – which obviously is not the case on a Facebook comments thread.
Sign up now so you don’t miss the first issue.
In the meantime, tell your friends!