Art Deco – Art Nouveau

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Betsy Augeron, Vase in Gres, ca 1930-40 h. 35 cm, signed

Betzy Augeron, painter and ceramist, was born in 1882 as Elisabeth Foucher. Her studio was in La Rochelle in Brittany, where she lived until her death in 1976. Most of her pottery work was on Gres, and is decorated with bold stylised flowers. Her output is typical for the art deco period.

Yet there is something different about her work. I like its freshness and immediacy – there is nothing jaded or mechanical about it. Betzy Augeron’s decorations are notoriously fragile and had trouble withstanding time, but out two examples are reasonably well preserved.

 

 

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Betsy Augeron, Lamp base in Gres,  ca 1930, signed, h29 cm
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Hand knotted art deco rug with stylised flowers, France, ca 1930-40

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Henri Rey, The Goose Girl, ca 1935

Pictures from the period:

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Sarkis Katchadourian (1886-1947) Le regret, pastel on paper