The Nancy School
The history of the Nancy School, an artistic movement influenced by the decorative arts revival, is intimately linked with the history of its home town. At the end of the 19th century Nancy experienced an unprecedented urban, demographic and economic development in which artists, art manufacturers and sponsors took full part. The Nancy School spearheaded Art Nouveau in France, which essentially drew its inspiration from vegetal forms (plants such as ginkgos, umbels, giant hogweeds, water lilies, thistles and cucurbitaceous plants) and animals (dragonflies for example). The alliance between art and industry depended on extensive research on the use of glasswork, ironwork, steel and wood to make things of beauty available to all and in so doing, introduce art into people's homes.
Gallé, Prouvé, Majorelle, and the Daum brothers were among its finest proponents.
