Sarah Letts, Joan Mac Karell, Elizabeth Turrell, Jessica Turrell and Sarah Wilson exhibited in 1992 Limoges Biennale and Alex Raphael was a juror.
11TH BIENNALE OF LIMOGES
‘The 11th Biennale of Limoges consists of a group of enamel exhibitions, each strong in content and each unique from the others.
L'Art de L'Email in the Chapelle du Lycee Gay-Lussac was small compared to previous years, with only 60 chosen works by 37 artists from the following countries, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden and USA.
The enamels were well spaced and individually lit. The small works, often lost in earlier exhibitions there amid the panels, were treated individually this year. Often only two items per case, they were individually well lit and therefore took on an importance in their own right. Works by the same artist were not split as in 1990 and gave more coherence to the work.
Sarah Letts' work consisted of four brooches delicately engraved and enamelled. Joan MacKarell created two vases- a male in jacket and waistcoat and a female with silver ruffle and bow. Elizabeth Turrell's work was a panel pierced and constructed. I would have liked to have seen more of her work displayed. Jessica Turrell constructed four silver cloisonné brooches in soft, warm colours. Sarah Wilson enamelled a tubular vase in champleve. The bright blues were wonderful and clear, revealing delicate engraving beneath.
On the whole, it was a well-displayed exhibition. The very traditional cloisonné vase by Yoko Yoshimura of Japan contrasted starkly with the rest of the work, which was very modern in design.
For the exhibition entitled Enamel/Design/Enamel, various designers had been given the task of designing furniture or objects to incorporate enamels. The end result was, for the most part, a lovely surprise, a new idea for the enamellers and a new material for the designers. Inevitably, some objects were more successful than others, but the idea and the resultant exhibition were very exciting.
The Art Deco exhibition was located in the annexe of the Musee Eveche. Works had been brought from Paris and Geneva to supplement the Limoges enamels. The familiar Cartier watches and boxes were in great evidence but the strength of the exhibition was the Limousin work. The large vessels enamelled in bold, swirling colours, the enamel three dimensional, as if carved. The second surprise was the number of individual artists who had obviously worked in this style in Limoges, in addition to Camille Faure. It was a time of an enamelling revival and the volume and strength of the exhibition reflects what was a renaissance in the 1900s of Limoges.
The Musee Eveche itself also had a special exhibition of its contemporary collection, enamels puchased by the museum during the past ten years. Prior to this, the museum boasted an extremely fine collection of historical enamels, but, unfortunately many of these had been victims of a theft and the museum decided to turn this disaster into a positive event by starting a new collection, presenting 20th century enamels, hopefully for posterity. (The museum now possesses three pieces by Alex, one of her moon necklaces and two plique-a-jour bowls).’
© 1992 Alex Raphael
‘The 11th Biennale of Limoges consists of a group of enamel exhibitions, each strong in content and each unique from the others.
L'Art de L'Email in the Chapelle du Lycee Gay-Lussac was small compared to previous years, with only 60 chosen works by 37 artists from the following countries, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden and USA.
The enamels were well spaced and individually lit. The small works, often lost in earlier exhibitions there amid the panels, were treated individually this year. Often only two items per case, they were individually well lit and therefore took on an importance in their own right. Works by the same artist were not split as in 1990 and gave more coherence to the work.
Sarah Letts' work consisted of four brooches delicately engraved and enamelled. Joan MacKarell created two vases- a male in jacket and waistcoat and a female with silver ruffle and bow. Elizabeth Turrell's work was a panel pierced and constructed. I would have liked to have seen more of her work displayed. Jessica Turrell constructed four silver cloisonné brooches in soft, warm colours. Sarah Wilson enamelled a tubular vase in champleve. The bright blues were wonderful and clear, revealing delicate engraving beneath.
On the whole, it was a well-displayed exhibition. The very traditional cloisonné vase by Yoko Yoshimura of Japan contrasted starkly with the rest of the work, which was very modern in design.
For the exhibition entitled Enamel/Design/Enamel, various designers had been given the task of designing furniture or objects to incorporate enamels. The end result was, for the most part, a lovely surprise, a new idea for the enamellers and a new material for the designers. Inevitably, some objects were more successful than others, but the idea and the resultant exhibition were very exciting.
The Art Deco exhibition was located in the annexe of the Musee Eveche. Works had been brought from Paris and Geneva to supplement the Limoges enamels. The familiar Cartier watches and boxes were in great evidence but the strength of the exhibition was the Limousin work. The large vessels enamelled in bold, swirling colours, the enamel three dimensional, as if carved. The second surprise was the number of individual artists who had obviously worked in this style in Limoges, in addition to Camille Faure. It was a time of an enamelling revival and the volume and strength of the exhibition reflects what was a renaissance in the 1900s of Limoges.
The Musee Eveche itself also had a special exhibition of its contemporary collection, enamels puchased by the museum during the past ten years. Prior to this, the museum boasted an extremely fine collection of historical enamels, but, unfortunately many of these had been victims of a theft and the museum decided to turn this disaster into a positive event by starting a new collection, presenting 20th century enamels, hopefully for posterity. (The museum now possesses three pieces by Alex, one of her moon necklaces and two plique-a-jour bowls).’
© 1992 Alex Raphael
BSOE EXHIBITION - Art Gallery, Ruthin Craft Centre
In September the Art Gallery, Ruthin Arts Centre, Clwyd, Wales hosted a British Society exhibition. The Society produced an A3 poster, with a blank space to allow for overprinting of part of the run with details of the Ruthin exhibition. The same poster was subsequently overprinted with relevant information to promote the Society’s 2nd International Conference Exhibition at the CAA Galleries in Cambridge and for the Society’s International Exhibition at the Kunstverein Coburg Gallery in Germany in 1993.
‘One of the joys of belonging to the British Society of Enamellers is the friendly meetings we have in various parts of Britain. Ruthin provided a lovely setting for our latest get together. Although the opening took place at a time of year when many of our members are preparing for other exhibitions, the following members were able to attend the preview: Maureen Carswell, Philip Hughes, Joan Mackarell, Gudde Skyrme, Elizabeth Turrell and Tamar Winter. 
The Craft Centre is like a village devoted to creative people inside a small medieval country town. An excellent place to have an exhibition and an excellent exhibition was indeed produced by the Society.
The work was of very high standard, skilfully executed and beautifully presented. It would be difficult to highlight individual pieces. If I were to mention all the work I admired there would be no room left to the rest of the newsletter.
I must confess that I had difficulty in parting from Alex Raphael's necklace and my husband could not take his eyes away from Ruth Davies' work. If there is one small criticism I dare make of the exhibition, I personally felt it had beauty, but it lacked excitement. Maybe Mr. Dilleys' lecture made me too critical or was he right? Do we play too safe in our work?
Our evening finished with an enjoyable meal where both conversation and wine flowed freely. It was with the greatest of reluctance that we left such convivial company that evening.’
© 1992 Hali Baykov
© 1992 Hali Baykov
