Clement Massier (1844-1917) – French master of ceramics of the Art Nouveau era, was born on the French Riviera in the town of Vallauris in a family of hereditary ceramists. The family ceramics workshop was founded by Pierre Massier (1707-1748) back in the 18th century to produce utilitarian tableware. Clement, Pierre’s great-grandson, began his long and storied career in 1856 as a teenager, learning the craft from his father Jacques Massier (1801-1871) in the Vallauris family atelier.

He was introduced to pottery by Gaetano Gandolfi, an Italian ceramist. Under the guidance of Gandolfi, he began to experiment with glazes, inventing new formulas and his own recipes. The desire to master new artistic techniques prompted Clement to experiment with metallic glazes, which eventually brought him success and fame.

Until 1883, Clément ran the family business with his older brother Delfin in Vallauris. But the rivalry between the brothers prompted Clément to open his own production in Golfe-Juan in 1883. The city was an ideal location, located on the way to the popular French Riviera. His business, which included a factory, an exhibition hall, a gallery and a tea shop, quickly became profitable and employed 120 employees.

By the end of the 19th century, Clément Massier, dominated the world of French Art Nouveau ceramics and achieved fame and success by concentrating on the creation of artistic vases, vessels and planters with expressive decorative effect, covered with “metallic” glazes of his own design.

Clément’s success reached its peak when, in 1887, Massier invited the painter Lucien Levy-Durmet to his studio. Together with Levy-Durmet they developed a wide range of “reflective metallic” glazes. The characteristic luster of a smooth surface, and the impeccable shape of vessels with narrow necks, reminded the audience of oriental dishes. The handles of the vases were striking in their variety of outlines and shapes. The surface of the objects played with iridescent brilliance. Ceramic vases at first glance seemed to be metal. If the shapes of the vases were repeated, then their color scheme changed depending on the mode and duration of firing.

In 1889, at the World Exhibition in Paris, Massier and Levi-Dürmer received a gold medal for their works. And in subsequent years, the participation of masters in European exhibitions brought them great success and public attention, and Queen Victoria and Victor Hugo were among high-ranking clients.

Lucien Levy-Durmet (1865-1953) worked in Clement’s atelier until 1895 and did much to develop production. He introduced the use of new decoration methods, achieved complex surface enameling effects, introduced the use of metal frames. In 1895 the artist returned to his painting career. He visited Italy, where he became interested in the art of the Renaissance and the work of the Pre-Raphaelites, who were close to him in spirit. In 1896, his paintings and pastels were exhibited for the first time under the name of Lucien Levy-Durmet; it was then that he added the last two syllables of his mother’s maiden name (Goldhurmer) to his last name to distinguish himself from his namesakes. I want to show you some of his works so that you can appreciate the talent of the artist Lucien Levy-Durmet, a wonderful draftsman and colorist.