The Studio yearbook of decorative art (1908)

FRENCH ARCHITECTURE AND DE-
CORATION. By Achille Segard.

THOSE foreigners who admire and often imitate the work of
French architects and craftsmen of the past have no hesi-
tation in declaring that since the 18 th century, which marked
the apogee of our Decorative Arts, there has been no break in a
steady decadence in France. Unjust as this opinion may be, it
must be admitted that it contains a certain amount of truth ; for
manufacturers devote their attention exclusively to the productions
of the 18th century, and the style of to-day has been forced in
the direction of antiquated models. Nevertheless, our craftsmen
are still capable of executing the finest workmanship (nor do they
fail to do so), though prevented from displaying either fancy or
inventiveness.

For the first time in the history of French Art the interior
decoration of our dwellings—so far as any important section of the
public is concerned—finds itself out of harmony with the general
habits, customs, and characteristics of the age. A Louis XVI.
interior may be justified in the case of an antiquarian or one
who specialises in old things ; but it seems out of place when adopted
by private individuals, usually business men, who ought to reject
such excellent but antiquated imitations in favour of convenient
and practical furniture and decoration adapted to their needs, to
harmonize with modern ideas and costumes, and the habits and
manners of living of to-day.

But in a country which is essentially artistic, even though
the general taste may have for the moment gone astray, there is
always an elite to maintain the tradition by vivifying and renewing
it. Further, there must always be, out of touch with the general
taste, a number of architects, designers, and craftsmen anxious to
throw off the tyrannic yoke of the past, anxious to give expression
to their own fancy and invention and to create a new style. The
Exhibition of 1889 revealed in a most striking manner the efforts,
the ambitions and the qualities of some of our artists. We then
entered upon a brief period of enthusiasm which shook even the
most " hide-bound " manufacturers in their foolish conviction that
French people would go on furnishing their houses indefinitely in
the Louis XIV., Louis XV., Louis XVI., and Empire styles.

Unhappily the rapid individualism, which is one of the
characteristics of our age, the desire to be original at any cost,
and particularly the craving for notoriety, were the causes or
grotesque, bizarre, almost mad productions in architecture, in
furniture, in all the branches of decorative art. At the 1900

xxxvii