Georges de Feure
(1868–)
(–1943)
Georges de Feure
1868–1943
Georges de Feure (1868–1943) was a French painter, lithographer, and furniture designer known for working in the Art Nouveau style. With very little formal artistic training, Georges became prominent in France and the Netherlands, exhibiting at large international salons and expositions, including the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. He also worked commercially illustrating newspapers, designing furniture, and creating iconic posters and advertising materials for theatrical establishments, such as Le Chat Noir cabaret.
He was born Georges Joseph van Sluijters in Paris, France. Georges began and then shortly after left the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam in 1886, staying to work in the city as a commercial designer until 1889. Georges adopted the surname de Feure in 1890 after studying under Jules Cheret. In 1894, while exhibiting furniture and ceramics at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Georges caught the attention of art dealer Siegfried Bing.
Bing’s commercial gallery, L’Art Nouveau (“The New Art”), opened in 1895 and was the origin of the name of the art movement that flourished at the turn of the century in western Europe. Designed after the organic, asymmetrical forms of nature but heavily laden with decorative accents, Art Nouveau took inspiration from mid-eighteenth-century French Rococo and Japanese woodblock printing, particularly the works of Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Utagawa Kunisada.
By 1899 Georges was working for Bing, designing interior furnishings for his gallery. He was promoted to the head of its design department in 1900. In the same year, he also exhibited his works at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. In August of 1901, Georges was nominated for the Legion of Honour — the highest order of merit awarded in France — for his contributions to the decorative arts.
Soon after, Georges and German architect Theodor Cossmann opened an independent studio called the Atelier de Feure. From this space, Georges produced some of his most well-known works, including and especially posters for theatrical productions and establishments including Le Chat Noir and the Folies-Bergere. During this time, he also taught at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He died age 75 in Paris.