Louis Hestaux and the marine life theme in Gallé’s artwork : regarding a watercolour
Gallé Market watch : December 2020 (2)
Earlier this month a rather remarkable watercolour by Louis Hestaux was sold in Enghien by the Goxe and Belaisch auction house (Dessins anciens et modernes, lot 85, 03/12/2020, 1700€ hammer price, against a 200-300€ estimate). The colourful and dynamic composition shows a couple of pipefishes (not eels !) swimming in an algae field of fucus and others (fig. 1). There is little doubt in my view that this painting could have been destined to be the first step in the creation of a glass artwork by Émile Gallé or Établissements Gallé, and here’s why.
Louis Hestaux (Metz 1858 - Nancy 1919) was a painter and a wood carver, but he is perhaps mainly known today as the person in charge of the decoration workshop under Émile Gallé (from 1878) and then, after the latter’s death in 1904, as the designer in chief of the Gallé glass factory until his own death. To understand this watercolour, it is therefore necessary to examine both his personal artistic creations and his designs for Gallé, and how they relate to each other.
The composition does not include any sketch of a glass shape that this drawing might be applied to : this is not a model that could be given to the draughtsmen of the factory to copy and produce the numerous duplicates used by the painters-decorators in their work. Compared to the huge variety of series produced by the Établissements Gallé, the number of preserved preliminary drawings is rather small, and most of them do possess at least a profile of the intended vase shape, next to the proposed design. Many are mockups of the vase with the decor already applied across the shape. Nevertheless, while there is no direct evidence of a vase in the drawing, the composition speaks for itself : the fishes gyrating around the algae masses evoke clearly the circular shape of a vase ; the gradient of the algae colours, the contrast with their black and white center leave plenty of potential play on glass materials and transparency. More prosaically, the medium and the technique are also the most commonly used for this sort of project : a watercolour on paper. With a 37 x 54,5 cm size, it’s on the upper range of the similar drawings on record, like the ones in the Musée de l’École de Nancy for instance.
In other words, it’s not difficult to envision a vase by Émile Gallé based on this design, with the fishes etched on the glass field or on the contrary applied, as would be perhaps the main algae’s hearts. The question is then if it was indeed made into glass.
Marine subaquatic life in Émile Gallé’s artworks
From the outset, let’s recognise that none of the glass masterpieces by Émile Gallé nor any industrial series, whether they were directly derived from them or not, can readily be identified as an actual realisation of this watercolour – barring the existence of some unpublished or unrecognised ones, of course (1). This seems to hold as well for the ceramics.
The structure of the composition, with its couple of strange-looking fishes swimming among the eerie but beautiful algae’s field, however, is not without parallels. The very shape of the pipefishes is vaguely reminiscent of a far more famous fish, often featured on Gallé’s works, the seahorse (hippocampus).
Several ceramics works by Gallé from the late 1880s already featured seahorses as their main decorative theme, like a faience writing board (fig. 2) or the striking “Vase rubis“(fig. 3) (2). In the early 1890s, several glass artworks are inspired by the sea, like the Épave vase in 1895, conceived as an abandoned vessel on the seabed (3). But, it’s really in 1900 that Émile Gallé, fascinated in part by the latest oceanographic discoveries, made the sea flora and fauna a central theme of his glass creations : he announced his intentions in the speech he made for his entry as a member in the Académie de Stanislas, the local learned society in Nancy, Le Décor symbolique (4).
Already, at the Exposition universelle in Paris, this same year, one the main two displays by Gallé, the Repos dans la solitude, held several art pieces on this theme (5). In the following years, up to his death in 1904, Émile Gallé directed the creation of multiple masterpieces depicting algae and various sea creatures, among which the seahorse held one again a prominent place, like in the various vases titled Hippocampes (fig. 6-7) – with its most famous iteration, the vase dedicated to Joseph Reinach, now in the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris (6). To hold a collection of glass artworks on this very same theme, for his last two major exhibitions, in the Pavillon de Marsan exhibition (1903) and the École de Nancy one (1904), he also created one of his rare cabinet furnitures with an aquatic design, the Fonds de la Mer, a jewellery display case with legs shaped in part like an octopus’ tentacles (fig. 5) (7) : the vitrine showcased different selections of glass artworks such as the hippocampus vase shown above or the cup with algae and seashells from the Queen Margrethe II of Denmark’s collection (see fig. 4 for the design (8).
What was Louis Hestaux’s role in these creations ? Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any clear indication of this in the rare work notes still preserved from Émile Gallé – by contrast, the name of Paul Nicolas is explicitly mentioned in some instructions to make certain shapes of vases with a sea-themed decor – sea anemones, starfishes, seahorses (9). There is no mention either of the pipefish (“vipère de mer“, “aiguille de mer” or “syngnathe”) in these notes or in Gallé’s published writings. Nor is there any vase which could be readily matched with the pipefishes in algae’s watercolour (10).
Nonetheless, Louis Hestaux, by virtue of his role as chief designer, was certainly deeply involved in these creations. We know for instance several Hestaux signed drawings of algae, seemingly related to the intended glass series for the Société des amis du bibelots in 1901-1902 (11). One crucial pictorial source for the underwater flora and fauna designs by Émile Gallé and his team, was the German publication by Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur, from 1899 to 1904. This highly influential documentary series in eleven parts was so important to Émile Gallé that not only did he buy it for his own usage but he had some plates photographed for his designers (12). Studies and vase projects from Louis Hestaux, for instance his drawings of the crinoïd or “lys de mer” (fig. 13 below), clearly indicate that he made use of them.
Comparable works by Louis Hestaux
The total number of algae themed compositions made by Louis Hestaux over his artistic career is impossible to determine, but it is undeniably large. Impressive as it is, this watercolour is certainly not unique in Hestaux’s known works. Two other very similar artworks have already been published. The first one was part of the 1982 exhibition on Louis Hestaux, organised in the Musée de l’École de Nancy (fig. 9) (13) : much simpler and smaller (27.3 x 38.5 cm), this study represents some algae, without any fauna (14). It was deemed interesting enough to be chosen for the small catalogue full coloured cover (see the picture above). Of the four drawings titled Algae presented in this exhibition, it’s the only study without an accompanying vase shape (15). The second similar work is a gouache on paper study, from a private collection, published in 1987 (fig. 10) (16) : a large crab and a small barely visible starfish are shown in a red and green algae mass, with a rotating movement reminiscent of the pipefishes in algae watercolour. Both are undated and can be understood as preliminary studies for a vase series or another artistic endeavour, as we shall see.
Several over preserved Hestaux drawings, in black and white, inked and/or pencilled, are vase projects, some of which are identified. The crab in algae, for instance, is known from two drawings in the Rouppert collection. They can be related to an early cameo glass series whose design of crab and fucus, etched green on yellow, is indeed very close (fig. 11-12) (17). The larger drawing is quite typical of one kind of Gallé vase projects where the design is not directly applied to the intended shape, but nonetheless spread out on the paper in prevision of this application (fig. 13). The vase’s shape is then indicated as a simple and small sketch in a corner. Here again, it’s a preliminary study, before the design was traced at scale within the desired shape.
The uncertainty regarding the medium intended : ceramics, glass or… wood?
Surprisingly, one of the artworks closest to the watercolour is a carved walnut fire screen from the sale of the Max Palevsky collection, at Christie’s New York, on the 15th December 2010. Signed Hestaux but unfortunately undated, this large wood panel (71.8 cm high and 92.8 cm wide) features an algae field with a large crab in the lower-left corner and a starfish in the opposite one (fig. 14). The design is undeniably similar to the watercolour’s one and may thus belong to the same series – although the matching drawing’s fate is unknown (18).
It is unlikely that Hestaux made many such carved artworks, at least compared to his paintings or drawings, perhaps less than 50 overall (19). This was a relatively late artistic endeavour for him, since they do not appear before 1896 in his quasi yearly offerings in the salon of the Société lorraine des Amis des Arts in Nancy (20). It seems that he discovered wood carving while working for Émile Gallé, whose own cabinet making workshop was set up shortly before 1889. That Louis Hestaux considered his carved wood pieces a major creative undertaking is nonetheless clearly shown by his listings in successive exhibitions of the École de Nancy association during the early 1900s, where they made up the bulk of his offerings : at the Pavillon de Marsan for the Union centrale des arts décoratifs, in 1903, for instance, all of his 25 artworks on display were sculpted and carved wood objects, some with mother-of-pearl inlays and/or embossed leather parts. Significantly for our research, none of these objects’ design is related to the undersea life, while, as we have already seen, this theme was central to Émile Gallé’s own work at this exhibition. In fact, the crab, starfish and algae fire screen does not look to appear in any exhibition listing, nor does any other such artwork by Hestaux with a subaquatic theme.
Louis Hestaux continued of course to send wood artworks to the salons after Gallé’s death, like Les Baigneuses, for the Société nationale des beaux-arts, in 1912 – maybe an alternate version of the carved wooden tray pictured above (fig. 15) (21). But when, at Albert Daigueperce’s suggestion, Hestaux’s artwork was the subject of an exhibition in the Gallé retail shop in Nancy, in December 1919-January 1920, shortly after his death, only his paintings and drawings were included (22). None of the 251 items listed (for sale) in its catalogue appear to be related to an underwater landscape or theme.
This Hestaux algae and crab wood panel is also all the more exceptional because there are very few wood artworks featuring such a theme in the Gallé repertoire. Of course, a few small cabinet masterpieces by Émile Gallé belong to this marine life genre, such as the Fonds de la mer display already mentioned, but also the Flora marina, Flora rustica jardinière (1889) (23), in rocaille style, a piece made in collaboration with Louis Hestaux and Victor Prouvé. An undated serving table features some impressive sculpted seahorses as legs and supports of the upper table-top, but the marquetry boards do not seem to show sea flora nor fauna, more likely some fresh water flowers(24). In fact, one is hard-pressed to find even one wood marquetry whose main decor is based on marine fauna or flora, let alone algae : the contrast could not be starker with the glass art pieces and industrial series, where algae are almost continually one of the mainstays of the decorative repertoire. The obvious reason for this dichotomy is the strong natural association between the medium and the decorative design, glass with (under) water-based life against wood with earth-based life. Having fish swimming among algae on a wood board was probably considered unnatural.
Chronological uncertainty about the composition’s date
There is also considerable uncertainty to consider on the date of this painting. Until now, we have more or less confined our search to the 1889-1904 period – which is, not coincidentally, also the best known for Émile Gallé’s artworks. The algae and crab wood panel provides an important clue toward a 1896 terminus post quem. But Louis Hestaux’s career at Gallé spanned four decades, from 1878 to 1919, and he draught or painted algae compositions regularly. He often signed his projects, like this one, so attribution is not an issue here. But he seldom dated them, which is a major problem : their proper datation comes then only from external references, like direct attributions in Gallé’s writings or critical reviews, and of course comparisons with actual glass, ceramic or wood artworks. But that’s far from possible for every drawing as we have seen.
Quite understandably, there is a tendency among experts to ascribe his most brilliant compositions to Émile Gallé’s time, with the idea that the master’s artistic ambition spurred his collaborators to achieve their best, knowing that they would stand a chance to be made into some spectacular glass, ceramic or wood artworks. In this telling, the more mundane drawings of Hestaux did come later in his career, after Émile Gallé’s death, when the focus of the factory was on industrial glass series, with more conservative designs.
However, Louis Hestaux never relinquished his own artistic inspiration, even in his capacity as designer for Gallé after 1904. He continued to send ambitious projects to the Gallé direction up to his death in 1919. This can be demonstrated by the following letter from Paul Perdrizet, the acting director of the Établissements Gallé, to Albert Daigueperce, the manager of the Paris depot. Informing him on the current state of affairs in the Nancy factory, Perdrizet writes, on the 11th January 1917 (25) :
[I have] seen Lang (26), who is not satisfied by Hestaux’s drawings (27). He was supposed to give us 8 drawings for the algae series (…) some compositions on models, like Gallé used to make. It’s the only way we can appreciate the drawing’s rendition. A drawing, which looks very good on paper, sometimes does not fit at all when it’s applied on the shape. (28)
This quote makes it clear that Louis Hestaux was submitting compositions like the pipefishes among algae one, i.e. thematic studies rather than models, which were not making happy the practically-minded Paul Perdrizet and Émile Lang. Hestaux was in fact asked to revise his copy, and he returned a few weeks later with “proper” vase models (according to Perdrizet), which we can assume were thus the basis for some of the 1917 new glass series and maybe some later ones too (fig. 16) (29).
During this period, Louis Hestaux, living in Paris with his family, was also in frequent contact with Albert Daigueperce, for his work for the Gallé factory as well as for his own : in a letter during the spring of 1918, he inquired about the fate of wood carved trays or boards that he had entrusted Daigueperce with (30). Evidently, his salary from the Établissements Gallé was not enough to sustain his family, and he had to look for clients for his artwork, which was not easy at the time (31). While details are lacking about these carved woods – they were eventually sold by Daigueperce – the coincidence makes it quite tempting to hypothesise that some of them might have been made from the rejected algae drawings : the algae themed fire screen from the 2010 Christie’s sale could well then belong to this series and thus date from 1916-1917 rather than from a decade before.
There is some other evidence that Louis Hestaux might have been reusing for his personal projects some of his compositions first made for Gallé, or vice versa. For instance, his listing for the important Ecole de Nancy exhibition in 1903, at the Pavillon de Marsan, includes a sculpted wood artwork (“bois sculpté”) titled Feuille de nénuphar, Martin pêcheur (32) : the general theme, at the very least, is the same as on a vase series from ca. 1905-1908, as well as on some wood marquetry (33), of which he is most probably the author. Some of his landscape paintings, from the Moselle to the Alps or the Brittany coast, also undeniably find their match in Gallé landscape glass series. So, a later date looks possible, in theory, for this watercolour.
A final rather obvious point has to be made. Another reminder from the Perdrizet letter from January 1917, of course, is that many drawings were rejected or put aside for later and then never made into glass nor wood. We possess another striking testimony in this regard : in his unpublished memoirs, Jean Rouppert cites Perdrizet rather bluntly telling him, to deny him a salary increase, that the Gallé factory had accumulated thousands of yet unused drawings (34). This episode happened shortly before Rouppert’s departure in 1924. Evidently, Hestaux’s drawings were a big part of this unused stock of artistic designs. And that’s not considering his own private collection of paintings and drawings. The possibility is very real, therefore, that the pipefishes in algae study in case here was never made in an actual artwork.
Conclusion
The search for a Gallé glass, ceramics or wood artwork matching the algae and pipefishes watercolour remains inconclusive for the time being. Contrary to seahorses, crabs or starfishes, this marine creature is not commonly pictured – it may, in fact, be the only known instance. But the composition fits otherwise neatly in the many marine life series Louis Hestaux designed for Gallé. It may also well be one of his most spectacular ones, if I can venture a subjective opinion.
Several clues, such as the general chronology of Émile Gallé’s works on sea life, the publication of the Kunstformen der Natur, or the datation of a related carved wood panel, point towards an early 1900s datation for this watercolour, ca. 1903-1904 perhaps, but a creation as late as 1917-1918 cannot be excluded either.
The nature of Louis Hestaux’s career and his relationship with Émile Gallé and later the Établissements Gallé make it difficult to determine if this watercolour was made from the onset for his personal use or more likely for his employer, and if he perhaps reclaimed it for a project of his own, after it had been rejected for an industrial series. All three hypotheses are still in play and further documentation would be required to make a final determination.
© Samuel Provost, 10 December 2020
Bibliography
Charpentier F.-T., 1980, « Louis Hestaux, de Metz (1858-1919) », in Patrimoine et Culture en Lorraine, Metz, Serpenoise, p. 419‑433.
Charpentier F.-T. (ed), 1982, Louis Hestaux : Collaborateur de Gallé, Nancy, Musée de l’École de Nancy (catalogue of the exhibition held in the Musée de l’École de Nancy).
Duncan A. et Bartha G. (de), 2012, Gallé furniture, Woodbridge (UK), Antique Collector’s Club.
Perdrizet P. (ed.), 1919, Aquarelles et crayons de Louis Hestaux, Nancy, Berger-Levrault (Nancy).
Thiébaut Ph., 1993, Les dessins de Gallé, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux.
Thiébaut Ph., 2004, Gallé : Le testament artistique, Paris, Hazan.
Footnotes
This is of course a real possibility : the very important royal collection of Émile Gallé glass artworks in Denmark was only rediscovered in the 1990s (see J.-L. Olivié, “The discovery of an unknown Collection of Émile Gallé glass“, in Royal glass, Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, 1995, p. 232-259). But it seems perhaps unlikely after the 2004 exhibition in Musée d’Orsay, Gallé le testament artistique (Thiébaut 2004), in large part about the later Gallé marine life masterpieces, like the Main aux algues et aux coquillages : one would have expected this important exhibition to flush out the remaining seabed vases and such. ↩︎
Thiébaut 2004, fig. 31, p. 34 ; 32, p. 35. The Musée de l’École de Nancy owns an example of the latter, in ceramics : F. Th. Charpentier, « Gallé céramiste », in Musée de l’École de Nancy, La céramique de Gallé, Nancy, p. 35-36 and cat. 92, p. 114. ↩︎
Thiébaut 2004, p. 51 ; Émile Gallé, « Épave », in Écrits pour l’art, op. cit., p. 161-162. ↩︎
Thiébaut 2004, p. 44 ; Émile Gallé, « Le décor symbolique », in Écrits pour l’art: floriculture, art décoratif, notices d’exposition (1884-1889), Gallé-Grimm H. (ed.), Paris, Librairie Renouard, H. Laurens, 1908, p. 210-228. ↩︎
There was even an earlier project of vitrine dedicated to this sole theme, but it had to scraped because of the lack of exhibit space : Thiébaut 2004, p. 63. ↩︎
Another example is on permanent loan to the Musées royaux des beaux-arts de Belgique. ↩︎
Thiébaut 2004, p. 26 and n. 60, p. 29. The display case was first exhibited at the Salon de la société nationale des beaux-arts in the spring of 1904 with the description : “Vitrine en bois de fer sculpté, d’après le poulpe et les stellérides“. ↩︎
Thiébaut 2004, p. 27, fig. 28. See also J. P. Olivié, op. cit. fig. 8, p. 245. ↩︎
Thiébaut 2004, p. 41, cat 35 for the facsimile of this handwritten page, undated (ca. 1900-1902), from the Gallé archives in the Musée de l’École de Nancy. ↩︎
However, one of the vases in the Danish royal collection of Queen Margrethe II has an algae and seashells design, with a creature yet unidentified (it seems) whose shape is close enough to the pipefish, except for his tail. This creature is enveloped in fucus algae, not unlike the pipefishes of the Hestaux watercolour. See Thiébaut 2004, cat. 18, p. 75. The original publication of the vase was by J. P. Olivié in his catalogue of the Gallé part of the royal collection. Since the Orsay exhibition, the vase has also been shown in Vic-sur-Seille in 2009 : Musée départemental Georges de La Tour, Émile Gallé: nature & symbolisme « influences du Japon », Le Tacon F. (ed.), Metz, S. Domini, 2009, cat. 124, p. 138. ↩︎
Collection Jean Rouppert, private collection. ↩︎
Musée de l’École de Nancy, Émile Gallé au Musée de l’École de Nancy, Snoeck, 2014, p. 29 and 53. ↩︎
F.-Th. Charpentier (ed.), Louis Hestaux collaborateur de Gallé, Musée de l’École de Nancy, [1982], unpaginated. To date, this small exhibition remains the only one in honour of this artist. ↩︎
Ibidem, cat. 24. There is a small uncertainty here since the cover has no reference. But the short description points to this number. ↩︎
Ibid., cat. 21-24. Three other drawings were studies or vase projects involving marine aquatic life : cat. 25-27. ↩︎
F.-Th. Charpentier, Chr. Debize, M. Herold a. o. Art Nouveau. L’École de Nancy, Denoël, Paris, 1987, p. 56, fig. 1. No dimension given. ↩︎
The vase was part of the Arcole sale on the 2nd June 1989, where the Daigueperce collection was sold (cat. 112). Another example of this series, with a different shape, was published by Alastair Ducan and George De Bartha : Glass by Gallé, no 280. ↩︎
To the best of my knowledge, but as of this writing (11.12.2020), I have not been able to check with the collection in the Musée de l’École de Nancy for unpublished drawings matching this design. ↩︎
There were 18 sculpted and carved wood objects (trays, boards mostly) in the 1982 exhibition in the Musée de l’École de Nancy : Louis Hestaux collaborateur de Gallé, cat. 70-95 (interspersed with other types of items such as drawings or leather pieces). ↩︎
Charpentier 1980, p. 433-434, with important listing of the artworks mentioned and illustrated in the press. ↩︎
The Robert Zehil Gallery, in Monaco, where it is currently listed, does not provide a title for this work. It indicates however that it had been part of the 1903 exhibition at the Musée des arts décoratifs, which is technically incorrect, since the museum was founded only in 1905. ↩︎
On this exhibition, see the critical review by Émile Nicolas : “Chronique artistique : l'exposition Louis Hestaux”, in Le Pays lorrain, janvier 1920, n°1, p. 43-44. ↩︎
Gallé au musée de l’École de Nancy, cat. 70 ; Duncan and De Bartha 2012 , p. 34. ↩︎
Duncan and De Bartha 2012, pl. 30, p. 142. The picture is not good enough to be positive about the decor of the table tops. ↩︎
Letter from Paul Perdrizet to Albert Daigueperce, 11 January 1917, Françoise-Thérèse Charpentier’s work files on Daigueperce archives, private collection. After November 1915, Perdrizet was mobilised in a military office in Paris, but he managed to make quick trips to Nancy, while on leave, in order to supervise the factory. ↩︎
Émile Lang was the director of the factory from Émile Gallé’s time to its closure in 1936. Too old to enlist in 1914, he was among the “old hands” who kept the factory running during the war. ↩︎
Hestaux had fled Nancy with his family for Paris at the beginning of the war, but he continued to be employed by the Établissements Gallé. Perdrizet thus acted like a liaison of sort, taking Hestaux’s drawings with him back in Nancy when on leave from his military assignment. ↩︎
« [J’ai] vu Lang pas content des dessins Hestaux. Il devait nous remettre 8 dessins série algues… composition sur maquettes, comme en faisait Gallé. C’est seulement de cette façon qu’on peut se rendre compte de ce que donne un dessin. Un dessin qui fait très bien sur le papier, ne convient quelquefois plus du tout quand il est appliqué sur la forme. Quant aux dessins des lampes que nous a faits Hestaux (toujours sur le papier), ils sont inexécutables… nous gâchons du temps et de l’argent… » ↩︎
See my provisional general chronology here for the war series. The identification of this 1917 algae series comes from several characteristics : the defective “bubbling“ glass, the poor acid etching quality, the simple vase shapes and the 1908-1919 Gallé-underlined-with-crossed-G signature. ↩︎
We unfortunately only have a summary of this letter, from the archives of Françoise-Thérèse Charpentier. ↩︎
A letter from Paul Perdrizet to Claude Gallé (16/07/1916) informs us that Louis Hestaux was regularly writing to him asking for a salary raise (private collection). In the 1918’s letter, he complains to Daigueperce that “all the Parisians who have dough have left“ (« tous les Parisiens qui ont de la galette sont partis ») and that in consequence he is struggling to find some clients. ↩︎
Union centrale des arts décoratifs, Pavillon de Marsan, Exposition de l'alliance provinciale des industries d'art. Ecole de Nancy. Mars 1903. Catalogue officiel illustré, Paris, 1903, p. 13.↩︎
Duncan and de Bartha 2012, pl. 186, p. 204, for an occasional table. ↩︎
Jean Rouppert, private collection. ↩︎
How to cite this article : Samuel Provost, “Louis Hestaux and the marine life themed art pieces by Gallé : regarding a watercolour”, Newsletter on Art Nouveau Craftwork & Industry, no 3, 11 December 2020 [link].
This was utterly fascinating to read. Thank you for posting.
Thank you very much for this interesting research on Hestaux’s place in the creative universe of Gallé... sounds a bit like an unsung hero, it seems to me.
On another note, it is a pleasure to read such fine academic research. I teach Research Writing and if I may, I would like to use one of your articles as an example in class. Especially given that the topic is so far removed from current student interests: I like to show them how, regardless of the discipline, or the format (MLA, APA etc..), all good academic writing contains the same elements of argumentation, jsource synthesis, critical analysis, appropriate rhetorical tools and organization of ideas; and who knows, it might spark an interest in the noble arts of the past!
In the meantime, best wishes for a safe Christmas time, and a better new year for all of us.
Greetings from sunny Cairo, Egypt.
Sherin Darwish
(BA-MA Honours,
St Catherine's College, Oxford University)
Senior Instructor, Dept. Of Rhetoric&Composition,
the American University in Cairo.