1465 Bradbury Court to Art Garage Directions Green Bay
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| Cherub from the bedroom of the queen, carved by Fanchelli and gilded à la grecque by Daniel Sievert. photo: Lynne Rutter |
A fascinating and integral part of my work is the restoration of celebrated buildings, surfaces, furniture, and antiques. It'southward not my chief business organisation these days, but it inspires and informs my work and the techniques I employ every twenty-four hour period. When I travel I am excited to come across the work of other restoration artisans, and then I am especially thrilled to share with you my visit to the Château de Versailles, more specifically, this glimpse inside the atelier of the gilder-restorers.
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| Laurent Hissier and Daniel Sievert. photo past Jerôme Hissier |
I met gilder and decorative painter Laurent Hissier via the internet, and in 2007 made a visit to Versailles to meet him and see his work at the palace. My friends and I were given a warm welcome by Laurent and his mentors, master gilder Daniel Sievert and renowned decorative painter Pierre Lefumat, and treated to a stunning backstage tour of some of the non-public parts of the palace. I felt an immediate and strong analogousness for these kindred spirits; their commitment to their work is so inspiring. They are only a few of the well-nigh one thousand people working in relative anonymity to care for this spectacular palace.
Continuing in a pocket-sized sleeping room, in what might be called the attic, crammed with broken aureate chairs and other odd bits of furniture that are more than or less priceless, Laurent remarked that this a life's work that is never finished. This is why it is and then important to pass on the knowledge.
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| restoration in progress of a gold woods bench. photo: Lynne Rutter |
Laurent and I kept upward a correspondence via email, while I anxiously anticipated the book he and Daniel were writing -the book - detailing everything they know most gilding.
In Oct I visited Versailles again and chosen on my friends in the gilding atelier, where I was presented with a beautifully inscribed re-create of Art et Techniques de la Dorure à Versailles - Gilding at Versailles !
The gilding and restoration workshop is an airy, cute studio housed in the petite écurie, the old stables of the King. Restoration is a ceaseless effort here; restorers take access to the best materials, the support of the country, and a seemingly endless stream of thrilling projects working on priceless items of national importance. The sense of purpose and responsibleness one feels there is truly crawly.
The gilder-restorers' work is traditional in nature, with techniques passed down from teacher to educatee, from primary to amateur, forming an unbroken link from the creation of a piece to its renewal, and then on to the side by side generation of restorers to come.Gilding at Versailles documents this piece of work and continues this tradition. The book represents generations of accumulated knowledge from piece of work done in the palace over the years.
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| extract from Gilding at Versailles - step by step restoration of a gold console |
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| excerpt from Gilding at Versailles; phot0: Adrien Brotons: Laurent water gilding a frame. The gilders tip (brush) is being held with a hampe, or gilder's pole. The book includes instructions for how to carve your own. |
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| Ziska, Daniel, and Lynne in the studio |
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| limestone stairway to the atelier |
My colleague Ziska Childs and I had a nice visit with Daniel. Ziska is an accomplished scenic artist and designer, and having lived in Paris, she fortunately speaks French rather well. Artisans from other areas of the atelier came in to meet the visiting artists from America. We told them all how famous Daniel is.
Laurent was unfortunately away that solar day. Where? Oh, he was in Italian republic restoring something in the Vatican Palace. Yes I know how that sounds. It is exactly how it sounds... what a life!
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| a vivid assortment of pigments photo: Lynne Rutter |
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| a carved and gold sample in the atelier photograph: Lynne Rutter |
Master gilder and wood carver Daniel Sievert came to Versailles at the age of 14 as apprentice to Maître Grandvoinet, a master craftsman well known across France, the titular gilder of the castle. Later on many years working alongside his mentor, Daniel joined the CTFDU Compagnons du Bout de French republic des Devoirs Unis, a French guild of craftsmen with the highest standards of training, and earned the honorable title Ile de France au cœur d'or, a true master gilder. He returned to the Versailles atelier as sculptor and restorer of bois doré(gilded woods) , and in 1977 succeeded M. Granvoinet as caput gilder.
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| a collection of moulds of classical ornamentation for decorating frames photo: Lynne Rutter |
Laurent Hissier started working at the Château de Versailles every bit a night watchman, and spent many long hours studying the decorative work in the palace interior while checking for security issues. He took it upon himself to learn and do the techniques used in the décor of the palace. He was taught casting and molding past Yvon Bailleul in the sculpture workshop, and in 2003 was accustomed into the gilder-restorer workshop, to train with Maître Sievert. Laurent likewise studied with Pierre Lefumat, a world-famous main of imitation finishes, who taught him the techniques of faux marbre and painted finishes while working in the palace.
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| faux limestone finish painted by Laurent Hissier |
Maître Lefumat passed in 2010, a loss felt keenly by anybody at Versailles, and indeed the entire decorative painting customs.
Daniel Sievert retired at the stop of 2011 after 52 years of dedicated service and fantabulous work.
The torch has been passed to Laurent, restaurateur en bois doré et peintre en décors.
Laurent also teaches traditional gilding at the Ecole d'Art Murals de Versailles, and he has a blog where he posts inspiring pictures of the work he is doing: dorure-versailles.blogspot.com
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| apprentices working in the studio photograph: Lynne Rutter |
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| Laurent'south beautifully rendered false bois doors and faux marbre supports |
After our studio visit Ziska and I toured the Palace to see some of the piece of work of Daniel and Laurent, and Maîtres Lefumat and Grandvoinet, and all those that came before them.
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| Detail of one of 24 carved limewood and gilt frames, circa 1687 (recently restored) in the Cotelle Gallery of the Thou Trianon, Versailles. |
further reading:
Art et Techniques de la Dorure à Versailles - Gilding at Versailles
by Laurent Hissier and Daniel Sievert
L'Art du Faux Marbre
by Pierre Lefumat
published by Editions Vial with both French and English text
available from Pierre Finkelstein at fauxbrushes.com
Excerpts from Gilding at Versailles use with permission.
photos by Lynne Rutter unless otherwise noted
Source: http://www.ornamentalist.net/2012/
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