User:ShebaFra21/Édouard Bénédictus

Édouard Bénédictus (1878-1930) was a painter, writer, composer and chemist. He is credited with the invention of Laminated glass and was a leading designer in the Art Deco style.

Early Life & Career
Born into a Jewish family of Dutch origin, Edouard Benedictus presented himself as a descendant of Spinoza and was best man at the first marriage of Céline, who based the character Sosthène de Rodiencourt in Guignol's Band on him.

His aunt Judith Gautierpoet and novelist, who herself was the daughter daughter of the famous author Théophile Gautier, oriented him away from an artistic career, which she considered too frivolous. After studying chemistry in Germany, he conducted research at his laboratory in Paris. This is where, according to his own legend, he discovered Triplex glass in 1903 by dropping a flask that had contained a cellulose nitrate solution (liquid plastic). The glass shattered but did not break apart into sharp shards. Laminated glass, safety glass for the automotive industry, was born. Started as a musician, working with Ravel and composing an opera, followed by a scientific career. He entered L’École des Arts Décoratifs in 1897.

He made designs for jewelery, tapestries, leather, furniture, frescos, tapestries and textiles.

1899-1910 he devoted himself to the art of leather and techniques of decoration.

1920-30 he turned towards the designing of decorative art, wallpaper, textiles and carpets, publishing three collections. 1925 Paris Expo, he created a large carpet for the grand salon, reception room for the Ambassade française, made by La Maison aux Fabriques d’Aubusson. In this review of the Expo Édouard Rasson wrote of Benedictus “he seems to have surpassed himself on this occassion”. He published three pattern books, but it was felt by critic André Girodie that it was in the field of carpet design that he carved the most original place. His carpets were retailed by A La Place Clichy, and textiles and carpets were made by Manufacture Française de Tapis et de Couvertures, Brunet Meunie et Cie and La Maîtrise.

Edouard Benedictus was a painter, writer, composer and chemist who started his career in the Art Nouveau period. He wrote an influential article in L'Art décoratif in 1912. However, he was greatly receptive to the stylistic evolution started in 1912 and that became Art Deco. Appreciated for his portfolios "Variations" in 1923 and "Nouvelles variations" in 1928, he became one the most famous protagonists of the floral Art Deco. He played a special role in the Pavillion de l'Ambassade Francaise in the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 1925. He worked with the most famous designers in this period, especially with André Groult for whom he created many tapestries for furniture. He was friend of Maurice Ravel who was an "Apache" club member as him. Ravel's "Noël des jouets" received its first performance at one of the Bénédictus musical evenings. Maurice Delage described him as "le Mage au savoir sans limites". "Bénédictus was famous for his elegant silks and satins designed for top firms like Brunet, Meunié et Cie., and Tassinari et Châtel. Bénédictus' large pochoir designs display an imaginative geometric elaboration of fields of pure color, punctuated in places with abstract floral motifs".

He executed bookbindings, designed various fabrics and published three albums of abstract Art Deco motifs Variations, Nouvelles Variations and  Relais. He regularly designed furnishing fabrics for the firms of Tassinari et Châtel and Brunet, Meunié et Cie., and designed various ranges of carpets and carpeting. He exhibited at SAF and was awarded a Meniton Honorable (1899), Medal 3rd class (1902), 1st Class (1909), LH (1921) and LHO (1926) SAF Salon of the Société des Artistes Français LH Légion d’Honeur, Chevalier LHO “ “, Officier

His cinerary urn is in the Columbarium in Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Paris

He knew Ravel as a member of the Apaches. Maurice Delage, the French composer and pianist, described him as "le Mage au savoir sans limites". Ravel's song Noël des jouets received its first performance at one of the Bénédictus's musical evenings.

After the Great War, he left science to devote himself to the arts. He designed sets and costumes for the theatre, Art Deco fabrics, and even wrote a symphony. The Société du Verre Triplex, which he founded in 1912, was taken over by Saint-Gobain in 1927 and was taken to the industrial stage at the time of his death.

Select Bibliography
(containing Variations: Quatre-Vingt Six Motifs Decoratifs En Vingt Planches  and Nouvelles Variations: soixante-quinze motifs decoratifs en vingt planches )

(containing : Variations Albert Levy, Paris c1926 and Relais Freal et Cie 1930)

Faraday, C. (1929). European And American Carpets And Rugs. Grand Rapids, Mich.: The Dean-Hicks Company.

De Gary, M-N. (1986). Rythme Et Couleur De L'art Déco. Paris: Musée des arts décoratifs.

Works in Public Collections

 * Paris: Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Carpet for the Grand Salon of “Une Ambassade Française” in the Pavillion, 1925.
 * Minneapolis: Minneapolis Institute Of Art
 * Paris: Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris