HABERT-DYS, Jules-Auguste (1850-1930)

Fantasies Décoratives

Paris: Librairie de l'Art, 1886-1887. Folio. (16 3/4 x 12 inches). [iv] pp. illustrated with 48 plates printed on india paper in superb chromolithography by Gillot. Occasional light foxing.

19th-century quarter black morocco and green cloth boards, spine gilt lettered, patterned endpapers

A rare and visually arresting album of Art Nouveau design, Fantasies Décoratives is a key transitional work between the decorative eclecticism of the 19th century and the full flowering of modernist ornament in the early 20th.

One of the most imaginative works of late 19th-century French Decorative Art, showcasing the highly stylized and fantastical ornamentation of Jules-Auguste Habert-Dys, a leading figure in the French Art Nouveau movement. A master designer, illustrator, and ceramicist, Habert-Dys trained under Eugène Grasset and brought to his work a distinctive sensibility that combined naturalism with abstraction, and medieval revivalism with japonisme and Symbolist poetics. In Fantasies Décoratives, Habert-Dys's ornamental imagination is on full display: peacocks, insects, sea creatures, botanical arabesques, and mythical beasts intertwine in flowing, organic forms across decorative panels and vignettes. Each plate reflects the design principles that would help define the Art Nouveau style just a few years later: asymmetry, sinuous lines, nature as inspiration, and a rejection of rigid classical motifs. The chromolithography captures the subtle gradations of colour exquisitely, evoking the textures of enamel, embroidery, and stained glass. These plates were intended as models for artisans across applied arts: ceramicists, textile designers, illustrators, and decorative painters; and represent a culmination of late 19th-century interest in the unity of the arts and the elevation of design. Although less known today than contemporaries like Grasset or Mucha, Habert-Dys was highly respected in his time and regularly exhibited at the Salons and Expositions Universelles. He also worked for the prestigious Sèvres porcelain manufactory and contributed designs for stained glass, jewelry, and furniture.

Item #42245

Price: $2,000.00