Friedrich Gornik was an artisan and sculptor of animals and figures. He followed lessons at the Fachschule in Villach, worked during one year under the guidance of Théodore Charlemont, studied under Breitner and Strasser at the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschulde (School of Arts and Crafts) in Vienna, where he lived. When he graduated, he obtained a travelling scholarship.

It was in 1903 in Villach, that he for the first time showed animal studies which he created for execution in porcelain. It was in fact the way he had to observe animals very close in order to be able to realise them very accurate in porcelain, that brought him renommée. His first works were therefore small animal models, partly as lampstands, created for the many porcelain factories in Austria at the time. He also made designs for vases, bowles, etc. and juwels.

Gornik was a regular visitor of the Zoologische Garten in Shönbrunn where his animal studies resulted in a series of bigger animal sculptures and animal groups in plaster, in particular carnivore animal groups, as well as workhorses and oxes. These plaster sculptures were partly executed in bronze by other sculptors.

His work stands out by his solid handcrafted technics. After several years working for several porcelain manufacturers, Gornik started to cast his sculptures in bronze. Many of these included farm animals (such as working horses and oxes), dogs and several large models of horsemen. He also created small decorative items like desk sets, bell pushes and inkwells.

Like sculptor Carl Kauba (1865-1922), Gornik was fascinated by the American West, and especially the Indians and Cowboys associated with it. Gornik's works reflects his attention to detail when it comes to both mental and physical characteristics.

One of his first bronzes was a sculpture of a cowboy riding a horse, reflecting Gornik's interest in the American Western folklore. The action is well captured as the cowboy rides, twirling his lasso above his head. It was cast by the Arthur Rubenstein foundry in Vienna. His naturalistic group of horses, Troika, was bought by the Austrian emperor and is until today located in the imperial villa in Bad Ischl.

Other human figures are for example: Wrestling young men, Woonded fighter.  

Gornik was also co-founder of the Carinthian art society and his works are represented in several museums, including the Austrian Gallery Belvedere and the Museum of Military History.

Basin for turtles decorated with pelicans

1920s-1930s  

Patinated bronze and glass on a Patricia Vert marble base

Not signed

Stamped MADE IN AUSTRIA

Basin: H. 29 cm, W. 62,50 cm, D. 31 cm; Base: H. 4 cm, W. 70 cm, D. 41 cm

Sources: Bénézit, E. (vol. 6) (1999), Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays par un groupe d’écrivains spécialistes français et étrangers, Paris: Éditions Gründ, p. 304; Thieme, U., & Becker, F. (vol. 15) (1999), Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Leipzig: E. A. Seemann, p. 349.

Material: burl wood, bronze, green silk fabric, brass castors

Screen: H. 105 cm, W. 76,50 cm; W. base 35 cm

Guglielmo Bechi was an Italian archaeologist, architect, teacher and theorist. He lived and worked mainly in Naples. From 1851 until his death shortly after he directed the excavations of Pompeii.

After completing his studies (1805), he later settled in the then capital of the Kingdom of Naples, where he was appointed ufficiale dello Stato Maggiore (officer of the General Staff) (1815). Recommended by the architect and decorator Antonio Niccolini (1772-1850) he became secretary of the Regio Istituto per le Belli Arti (Royal Institute for Fine Arts) (22.03.1822). His inauguration speech was published that same year. His function in the art history department gave him great opportunities, such as to take care of the collections of the Real Museo Borbonico (1824-1843).

Despite his buzzy academic activities, Bechi also successfully dedicated himself to architectural design, in such way that the Duca di San Teodoro appointed him to design an imposing palazzo on the Riviera di Chiaia (1826), a commission he completed cum laude. Admiral and politcian Ferdinando Acton hired him for the finalisation of his villa at the Italian riviera, currently a museum, started by Pietro Valente (1796-1859), but with whom the owner ended up having a bad relationship. Guglielmo Bechi also co-operated in the realisation and decoration of the interiors of the palazzo Ruffo della Scaletta (March 1832 - April 1835) and the Villa Doria d'Angri in Naples (Posillipo).

The magnificent Villa Doria D'Angri at the beginning of Via Posillipo, with a stunning view overlooking the Posillipo bay, belonged since 1592 to the Doria family. In 1592 Vittoria Carafa donated to Isabella della Tolfa, wife of Marcantonio Doria di Angri (d’Angri), a vast estate with a masseria nora being a Posillipo masseria. The initial mansion was rebuild and extended several times. In particular between 1774 and 1782, when a new building was constructed. The Prince of Angri and Duke of Eboli, instructed the most radical rebuilding under the supervision of leading architect Bartolomeo Grasso (1775-ca.1860) and the co-architects Guglielmo Bechi, Luigi Gaddi and Antonio Francesconi (1806-1882), author of the curious octagonal Chinese pagoda. The villa, inspired by the Palladian villas, was commissioned by its owner as a symbol of his prestige and his aspirations as a cultured and refined man. This project needed, from the start in 1831 until the finishing in 1836, the cooperation of a great and excellent team of artists, decorators and craftsmen. The Villa Doria d’Angri - complete with Pompeian atrium and fountains - became one of the most important and interesting neoclassical villas in the area of Posillipo. Its construction was designed to become one with the location on which it was built for a perfect integration between architecture and nature. The most scenic part of the villa were its side terraces, real hanging gardens with water features and fountains. The interior spaces, according to the fashion of the period, were partly frescoed with Pompeian style motifs.

After the death of the Prince, the family decided to abandon the villa which in 1857 was sold to an English noblewoman. It became the headquarters of the Istituto Santa Dorotea and today it is one of the offices of the Univesità Parthenope which houses a prestigious Museo Navale of great historical interest, with a collection of about 160 models of ships and educational nautical instruments, the oldest of which date back to 1920, the year of the foundation of the Institute.

Empire ‘ottoman’ or ‘paté’

Guglielmo Bechi designed for the Villa Doria d’Angri an interior with Pompeian motifs and also carried on this neoclassical style in mirrors, tiles, plasterwork, furniture, etc. A perfect example is this extraordinary Italian Empire ‘otoman’ or ‘paté’ executed in a mix of fustic and amaranth. De positioning of the four seats makes it possible to have a conversation in a comfortable way or to admire for example art. The seat border is decorated with the Doria family escutcheon (a crowned eagle) and garlands. The eight neoclassical designed feet are supported at the lower part by little bare feet and the support itself is decorated with masks. The design is in analogy with the inner frame of the mantle piece in the Villa’s Galleria, most likely the room where the ottoman/paté was situated. The furniture maker was Pietro Viola, who also realised the furniture for the Palazzo Reale and the Villa Floridiana.

Created between 1831-1836

Fustic, amaranth and (new) green velvet upholstering

H. 79 cm, W. 160cm, D. 108 cm

Provenance: Villa Doria d’Angri, via Petrarca 80, Posillipo area, Naples (Italy)

Litterature: Colle, E., Il mobile Impero in Italia. Arredi e decorazioni d’interne dal 1800 al 1843, Milano: Ecclecta, 1998, p. 32-33.

Various types of wood

H. 75 cm, W. 175 cm, D. 95 cm

Marcel-Louis Baugniet is considered to be one of the most important Belgian avant-garde artists He was a painter, he made collages and designed decors, posters, carpets, advertising illustrations, ceramics and furniture.

Baugniet studied at the Academy of Brussels, where Paul Delvaux (1897-1974) and René Magritte (1898-1967) were his fellow students. He was a student under the symblist painter Jean Delville (1867-1953). In Paris he met a.o. Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967) and Fernand Léger (1881-1955). In 1922 he returned to Brussels, where he became friends with Felix De Boeck (1898-1995) and Victor Servranckx (1897-1965).

In Baugniet’s work, the influence of Bauhaus and De Stijl is visible. He was also familiar with the work of Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) and his wife Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979), and Henry Van de Velde (1863-1957). He evolved from figurative art towards Contructivsm.

In 1922 he joined 7Arts. He became a member of the art society L’Assaut and participated in their exhibitions. He took part in the exhibitions of La Lanterne Sourde in 1923. He co-operated for the magazine L’Effort moderne in Paris en 1924-1925 et plus tard aux magazines L’Art vivant et Opbouwen. He exhibited at the Exposition internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1925.

In 1923 he married the dancer Marguerite Acarin (1904-1999), for whom he invented her stage name Akarova. He designed her stage costumes. Baugniet and Akarova soon ended their marriage in 1928, but they always remained friends and she continued to work sporadically with him for sets and costumes of her shows.

Baugniet also made illustrations for the album Déchirures of the poet R. Vivier and Dosages of L. François in 1929. He created music sheets edited by the music publishers F. Lauwerijns and A. Isaÿe. After 1945 he concentrated almost exclusively on collages and furniture designs. He founded the Maison de décoration Baugniet & C° in Brussels where he sold his creations.

In the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Liège, a major Baugniet exhibition was held in 2001.

Pair of art déco low back ‘gondole’ chairs

Period 1920s-1930s

Original upholstering

Museums: Brussels, Ostend, Elsene, Verviers, Amsterdam, Jerusalem and Lodtz.

Source: Pas, W. & G. (vol. 1) (2000), ARTO 2000 Biografisch Lexicon Plastische Kunst in België. Schilders Beeldhouwers Grafici 1830-2000, Antwerpen: De Gulden Roos, p. 39.

Wood and bronze

H. 75 cm, Diam. (bronze) 66,50 cm

Provenance: Antwerp ZOO

The Werkhuizen /Maison Franck company in Antwerp had three activities:

1) Furniture production   

2) Interior decoration

3) Antiques business

The first Werkhuizen/Maison Franck business ran by Mr and Mrs Franck, was located in the Kuipersstraat in Antwerp and expanded from a modest wallpaper shop to a flourishing decorator’s enterprise.

Their son Frans Franck (1872-1932), a talented draughtsman, was sent to Paris as an apprentice of an (unknown) ébéniste. This training maid him sensible to the new currents in English decorative arts and the work of the famous artist, writer and designer William Morris (1834-1896); the writer, poet, critic and painter John Ruskin (1819-1900); the artist and book illustrator Walter Crane (1845-1915). Back in Belgium, father Franck involved Frans and his brother Charles (1870-1935) in the decoration of the halls for Antwerp’s Second World Exhibition in 1894 with a large number of vellum sheets. They accomplished this assignment with great accuracy and speed, reason enough for their father to leave the management of the Werkhuizen/Maison Franck company in their hands: Charles was put in charge of management and administration, Frans of the decorative side of the business. The company flourished and during the Interbellum she employed circa 150 craftsman such as upholsterers, gilders, painters, sculptors and various specialists.

But both brothers also became very important cultural promoters of the Antwerp art scene at the start of the 20th century. They wanted to attract new artistic currents to Antwerp and founded The Chapel which quickly evolved into the new artistic society Kunst van Heden – Art Contemporain. They promoted young artists such as the modernist and pre-expressionist sculptor and painter Rik Wouters (1882-1916); the expressionist sculptor and painter Constant Permeke (1886-1952); the major figure in the Belgian avant-garde of the late nineteenth century and important precursor to the development of Expressionism in the early twentieth James Ensor (1860-1949); and the avant-garde painter Floris Jespers (1889-1965) with his mix of background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255); color:rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:sans-serif,arial,verdana,trebuchet ms; font-size:13px">Werkhuizen/Maison Franck had ceased to exist, but Maison Décor, a new and smaller company had been set up by one of Francis assistants, Frans Lemmens. He continued to furnish interiors in the Maison Franck tradition.

The Werkhuizen/Maison Franck’s furniture trademark was without any doubt tortoiseshell. The use of tortoiseshell veneer for furniture in Antwerp went back to the first half of the 17th century. Antwerp was already known as the production and export centre of tortoise-veneered cabinets. Since Frans Franck was also an antiques dealer, buying and selling Antwerp cabinets of the city’s Golden Age must have inspired his 20th century designs using the tortoiseshell veneer techniques and some stylistic features. The effect of red tortoiseshell was obtained by fixing the transparent tortoiseshell veneers onto a painted red background with glue that was coloured with vermilion powder. Yellow tortoiseshell was obtained by gluing the transparent veneers onto a gold leaf background. Each model was produced in a limited edition of twelve pieces: six pieces in yellow tortoiseshell and six pieces in red tortoiseshell and the model was registered Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement (S.G.D.G.) which means ‘patented without state guarantee. In common with Art Deco designs, inspiration was also found in French or English classicist furniture. The book by G.M. Ellwood with English 18th century designs – such as models by Thomas Sheraton - that Franck owned must also have been a source of inspiration: it shows some drawings of Sheraton-furniture legs decorated with carved tassels (floches) and a demi-lune side table on square tapering legs completely veneered in tortoiseshell. The creative Franck made this floche motif and tortoiseshell technique characteristic for his designs. Every floche was carved and chiselled separately by hand. In combination with tortoiseshell this kind of Franck furniture was very expensive without being really profitable, but it became his trademark. An other typical Franck feature was the use of Chinese lacquerer panels, for example for cabinet doors. Thanks to their brother Louis Franck -  a Belgian Minister of State –  who had good contacts with the colonies and China, Franck imported - at first old - Coromandel lacquer panels. When the demand for lacquerer increased, new ones were made locally. The Franck tortoiseshell Art Deco furniture is usually quite different from the pieces he made in the international Art Deco background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255); color:rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:sans-serif,arial,verdana,trebuchet ms; font-size:13px">Werkhuizen/Maison Franck in 1965 was liquidated, the remains of the Maison Franck archives were sold in 1998 through the Antwerp auction house Amberes. These archives contained furniture construction drawings from ca. 1910 to 1950; a set of watercolour furniture and interior drawings; a register of the different tortoiseshell table designs from 1920 to 1935; an (incomplete) ledger of 14 books with sales records of general antiques, furniture and objects between 1900 and 1961.

Coffee table top with rounded, slightly protruding corners. Four tapered legs with gilded acanthus leafs at the bottom, interconnected curved stretchers with a circular motif in the center.

1920s-1930s

Burr walnut

Not numbered

H. 50 cm, W. 80 cm, D. 52 cm

Sources: Müllendorf, E. (2002), ‘The furniture and interior design of Maison Franck of Antwerp (1900-1962) in Furniture History The Journal of The Furniture History Society, (no 38), p. 150-165; Exhibition catalogue Art Deco Belgique 1920-1940, Musée Ixelles 06.10 - 18.12.1988, p. 186-188.

Vicenzo L. Jerace was a sculptor and interior decorator, in fact an all-round artist fascinated by animals and natural sciences.

He was trained in Naples where he attended the Institute of Fine Arts and where he was welcomed by his older brother Francesco Jerace (1853-1937), already established as a sculptor and painter.

From the start he had a predilection for animal sculptures, a theme that brought him numerous awards and positive critics. At the aquarium of La Stazione zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples he was able to study the radiolarians also called radiozoa, protozoa of diameter 0,1-0,2 mm that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into the inner and outer portions of endoplasm and ectoplasm. From these radiolarians he drew inspiration for some works in Art Nouveau style in marble, metal or ceramic. Also in the realization of decorations and architectural elements he was the ‘author of liberty’ and designed the Pierce Villa in Naples, the Imperato Villa in Castellammare di Stabia, and the London office of the pre-Raphaelite painter and sculptor Sir Frederic Leighton (1830-1896).

He was also very active in the public domain with monumental statuary. Some fine examples are: the impressive Leone d'Aspromonte, the plaster model for an unrealized monument for general Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), that, after being exhibited in Rome, was lost; Il Redentore, in bronze, commissioned on the occasion of the Jubilee Year of 1900 of the Catholic Church and inaugurated on 29 August 1901 on the mount Monte Ortobene; the marble group Sinite parvulos which has been installed in the Forest Lawn memorial park of Cypress in the district of Los Angeles; and several memorials made after the First World War in different Calabrian countries.

The artist was also specialised in sanguine drawings, including some portraits, preparatory studies of challenging works like a fresco - which was lost, only sketches remaine – inspired by the Amori degli Angioli  (The Loves of the Angels), a poem (1823) by the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852).

Jerace traveled to Italy and Europe, participating in the Triennale in Rome (Rome Triennal), the Biennale di Venezia and Biennale di Milano (Venice and Milan Biennals). He exhibited his work in Antwerp in 1894, in Barcelona in 1896, in London in 1888 and in 1910 in Paris and Dresden.

Jerace married twice. His first wife, Luisa Pompeati, which he met in Trento in 1890, died about ten years after the wedding, while the artist was working at the Il Redentore statue. He honoured her memory for the rest of his life. However, he remarried in 1917 with the Venetian Pia Pischiutta.

Fight between panther and hunter

1911

Patinated bronze on a marble, ball bearing spinning base

Signed ƎP Vicenzo L. Jerace, with the name Rome and dated 1911 on the side of the base

Sculpture: H. 19 cm, W. ca. 40 cm, D. ca. 12 cm; Base: H. 12 cm, W. 40 cm, D. 14,50 cm

Source: Le Pera, E. (2008), Enciclopedia dell'Arte di Calabria, Ottocento e Novecento, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino editore.