Prof. Francesco Carelli

 

Mantel clock in oak with Loetz glass

 

Copper and silver plated and crystal wine pitchers

 

Gustave Serrurier-Bovy was a Belgian architect and designer (born in Liège in 1858, died in Liège in 1910). With Paul Hankar, Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, he was one of the leading Belgian representatives of Art Nouveau.
Still a student of architecture, he was in critical attitude towards the education he was receiving at school. In contrast to this education, he subscribed to the theories of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, considering that they laid the foundations of modern architecture. He advocated the search for forms specific to the 19th century and the use of all available materials and construction methods. After having qualified as an architect, he designed several houses in Liège.

In 1888, Gustave Serrurier abandoned architecture and founded in Liège the firm Serrurier-Bovy (Bovy being his wife’s surname). It offered complete interior designs as well as a wide variety of furniture and decorative objects. His aesthetic vision as an interior designer is summed up in one sentence in a booklet entitled Album d’Intérieurs: “To be beautiful, a set of furniture and decoration needs above all simplicity in the lines, harmony in the colours and consistency in the proportions”.His growing interest for decorative arts brought him close to the Arts and Crafts movement initiated by William Morris in England. Gustave Serrurier was highly receptive to this revival of the applied arts, which concerned all aspects of interior design: furniture, wallpaper, tapestries, hangings and metalwork. In 1893, he went to the exhibition organized by the Arts and Crafts movement in London and was most impressed by the exhibits. He was to maintain close relationships with several of the artists of this movement, most notably with Arthur Mackmurdo, Charles-F. Annesley Voysey and Walter Crane.

In 1900, Gustave Serrurier opened in Paris L’art dans l’habitation, both an exhibition and a sales house. The furniture and decorative objects on display continued to be made in Liège. At the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition, Gustave Serrurier collaborated with René Dulong to build and decorate a restaurant at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, Le Pavillon Bleu. The building’s architecture was characterised by tautened curves reminiscent of Gustave Serrurier’s furniture style.
In January 1903, he became president of L’Avant-Garde, a literary and artistic circle. In line with his convictions, the circle defended socially progressive ideas. It also addressed the relationship between art and society. In March 1903, the firm Serrurier & Cie was founded, involving Gustave Serrurier and two partners. One of them was René Dulong who shared the artistic responsibility. The activity concentrated on the mass production of furniture and decorative objects, and also light fittings, wallpapers, textiles and embroidery.
Around 1905, in a very different style, he created furniture in mahogany with essentially rectilinear shape and decorations featured small plates of Loetz glass, a material that was to be used on several pieces of furniture and objects created at that time. They were characterised by their simplicity and geometric shapes.