Eugène Grasset and His Beautiful Gardens

Spring (1894)

Eugène Grasset (1841 or 1845-1917) was a Swiss artist who worked in a variety of design fields in Paris, France. He is considered to be a pioneer in Art Nouveau design. Images are courtesy of wikiart.org (link).

Self Portrait (date unknown)

He studied drawing and architecture, and his travels to Egypt and his love of Japanese art influenced many of his own designs. He initially worked as a painter and sculptor, but during his career he also designed fabrics, furniture, tapestries, ceramics and jewelry. 

Le Nouveau Larousse Advertisement (1890)

He also taught at several schools in Paris, and a number of his students went on to have successful careers in art and design. 

 

Grafton Gallery, From Les Affiche Illustree (1897)

Although best known for his poster designs from the 1890s-1900s, he also illustrated magazine covers, advertisements, postcards and French and Swiss postage stamps.

His often feature beautiful women and flowers. Some images of historical subjects, such as the June 1895 cover of The Century Magazine which features Napoleon, do not feature flowers, but still utilize rich ornamental design in his distinctive style.

His best-known work today is probably the beautiful series of twelve paintings that illustrated the 1896 calendar for the Parisian department store La Belle Jardiniere. In these images, each month features a beautiful woman, in different seasonal clothes, walking in, tending to, or gathering flowers from an enchanted garden.