Study for a Decoration for the Salle des Fêtes of the Town Hall of Paris's 11th arrondissement

1897

Study for a Decoration for the Salle des Fêtes of the Town Hall of Paris's 11th arrondissement, 1897. Victor Emile Prouvé (French, 1858–1943). Watercolor with black chalk framing lines on beige wove paper; sheet: 45.9 x 64.5 cm (18 1/16 x 25 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2015.453 An avid draftsman, Victor Prouvé was known for his role in the École de Nancy, a group of artists active in the art nouveau movement, which integrated fine and decorative arts. This drawing relates to Prouvé's design for a mural intended to decorate the community center in the town hall of Paris's 11th arrondissement. By creating sophisticated designs for a broad public in such spaces, the artist sought to forge a role for vanguard art in everyday life. The mural painting to which this drawing relates was one of two major designs that Victor Prouvé created for town halls throughout Paris; he also decorated the staircase of a public building in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a Paris suburb.