A new industry

The artistic industry exhibitions organised periodically since the end of the 19^th century stimulate the relations between art and industry.  Based around the National Exhibition of Artistic Industries of 1892, the centre for decorative Arts was created, in the image of the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs of Paris.  This entity, part of the future Foment de les Arts Decoratives (FAD – Promotion of Decorative Arts), comprising a good list of artists  who would be key figures of Modernisme.  They are also important artistic industry workshops, led by the furniture maker  Francesc Vidal (in Catalan), in which artists were trained in different branches of the decorative arts.   

The importance of this culture of workshops becomes evident with initiatives such as the Castell dels Tres dragons, in the Ciutadella, set up by the architects  Domènech i Montaner and Antoni M. Gallissà (in Catalan), in the restaurant of the International Exposition of 1888: the traditional trades are experimented and perfected, such as ceramics, forging or stained glass.  Other major expositions, such as the Universal Exposition of Paris of 1900 or the international expositions of fine arts, are motors which boost and foster this activity, without forgetting the activity generated by the artists’ workshops.   

Screen

This work has been selected for the project «Partage Plus – Digitising and Enabling Art Nouveau for Europeana»