Edgar Brandt

[3] As Brandt is now more known internationally, he expanded his business again and opened a state-of-the-art factory in the Paris suburb of Chatillon-sous-Bagneux, where upward of 3,000 workers fabricated both decorative metalwork and armaments under his name.

Both Brandt and his younger brother “grew up in a protected and affection-filled atmosphere, and were strongly influenced by both their mother's work habits and their father's methods of analyzing and facing problems”.

Some scholars have said that “Brandt's small-scale pieces, marked by accuracy and precision, were a starting point for a design-and-process formula that would slowly lead him to large-scale works in iron that were also meticulously crafted”.

However, when specifically looking at France, where Edgar Brandt began his career, the Art Deco period can be characterized “by its embrace of its national past as the intellectual point of departure for creating something new.

Designers’ works during the Art Nouveau movement were criticized for creating art-for-arts sake; they were more interested in aesthetics than with function, materials, and techniques.

Additionally, the rise of the industrial revolution spurred the Art Deco movement as handcraftsmanship was starting to be replaced by machine production.

After the war, “designers felt a sense of urgency to reestablish France as the international leader in luxury trades, both as a matter of national pride and for their important contribution to the French economy”.

Many of Brandt's colleagues remained averse to the idea of this new technology; they felt “the only worthwhile ironwork was that done by a single artisan using the ancient methods”.

Staying true to his love of nature, Brandt's personal style can be “characterized by a rich density of stylized, finely detailed flower and plant motifs, sometimes offset with animal or human figures and areas of gilding”.

In turn, he began to expand his presence and started to collaborate with architects, the Daum Frères glassworks, and the suppliers of marble and alabaster.

At times his pieces contained references to other cultures such as Japanese, ancient Greek, Renaissance, Egyptian, African, and modern geometric forms.

In Brandt's early career, he believed “that designs geometrically proportioned in this way are infinitely more pleasing to the eye and therefore more satisfying to the soul”.

According to Kahr, in the book Edgar Brandt: Master of Art Deco Ironwork, the panel “contains a central motif of three gilt-bronze storks flying in front of a scroll-filled sun.

Following this discovery, Brandt began to implement Egyptian motifs in his work, particularly “the lotus, lily, and papyrus forms that decorated Tutankhamun's throne, vases, boxes, and even his shoe buckles”.

In 1923, Brandt, in collaboration with sculptor Max Blondat, were able to complete a five-panel hall gate that was displayed at the entrance of the Salon d’Automnes decorative-arts rooms.

From the distinct similarity between the figures in the panels and to Sandro Botticelli's Primavera, it has been concluded that the two designers were referencing “The Golden Age” of the Renaissance.

The frames placed around the figures can be paralleled to Renaissance ceiling frescos, such as those by Baldassare Peruzzi in the Sala di Galatea in the Villa Farnesina in Rome.

Many artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, André Derain, and Maurice Vlaminck had used indigenous African art as influences in their work.

Furthermore, by the early twentieth century, France had established colonies in West Africa which brought African culture to the eyes of Paris's inhabitants.

In partnership with architects Henri Favier and André Ventre, Brandt designed and created the La Porte d’Honneur entrance gates.

Although the rules explicitly stated not to imitate previous design styles, this wall shows “Brandt's ability to elicit the past in his work, while adding just enough original inspiration to make it appear fresh and current”.

According to Joan Kahr, “The formal symmetry of the screen and the small scrolls reflect Brandt's early, classically feminine repertoire, while various newer elements allude to the emerging style moderne.

The ripples of falling water and the crimped gearlike flowers also show the influence of a machine-inspired aesthetic, with its emphasis on movement and speed”.

For example, the central fountain displayed on the screen as well as the foliage have been replicated on other works such as theater sets, perfume labels, and wallpapers.

From Brandt's humble beginnings as a jewelry designer, his success in his large-scale pieces quickly led from private projects to public commissions.

In 1921, Brandt was commissioned to design the metalwork for the flaming circle and the surrounding bronze that would be at the head of the tomb of the unknown soldier located under the Arc de Triomphe in France.

This monument is dedicated to the 300,000 soldiers who lost their lives after German bombardment caused the trench to cave in and bury the men alive.

At the center of the stone monument, Brandt designed a wrought-iron grille with a sword that appears to be piercing the body of a bronze eagle, the symbol of the German nation, that has fallen and been conquered.

Resembling that of a modern version of an eighteenth-century staircase, the banister and railing are composed of S- and C-shaped scrolls with gilded acanthus surrounding the rosettes.

[26] As the years passed, the Art Deco style within Paris begins to change; “harmony and proportion had become more important than figurative decoration and color.