JACQUES GAUTIER’S BIOGRAPHY (1924-2004)

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Jacques Gautier was born in 1924. In his younger days he designed textile printings for the Lyon silk manufacturers but this first activity was interrupted by the Second World War.

Later on, he took interest in the technique of the ceramists and discovered in the French National Library the Renaissance enamels and the Venetian glass makers, the manufacturing secrets of whom have remained undisclosed. He then challenged himself to reinterpret these technical prowesses by adapting them to the trends of the contemporary fashion. he learned the know-how of metal and glass processing with the goldsmith François Hugo and he settled in 1952 in his first workshop, rue de Richelieu in Paris, where he remained until 1960.

Jacques Gautier immediately started working for the French Haute Couture and his jewels indeed “paraded” with the dress shows of the couturiers of the period, particularly, Christian Dior, under the label of whom his creations were marketed for a time. On the dressmaker’s death, Jacques Gautier opened a gallery rue Jacob, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près. He then regularly cooperated with Gérard Pipart who first created the Chloé’s collections, later the Nina Ricci’s. Marc Bohan, who was then Christian Dior’s designer, also included his jewels in his fashion parades.

For the “April in Paris” ball in New-York on 26th October 1966, he conceived electronic jewels, and it gained him a great popularity in the U.S. All these jewels were also shown in Paris by the Jerom Andrews Contemporary Ballet. Jacques Gautier participated in the 1967 in the Montreal World exhibition.

In 1969, he designed a harem trouser suit with a bolero entirely composed of metal chains which made a sensation in the press. The critics qualified his inspiration as “erotico-barbarian”. His creations were exhibited in Barcelona, in New-York and also in San Antonio (Mexico), Milan, Madrid and Brussels, in private galleries.

All along such a career, the artist’s wife Andrée Gautier never failed to encourage his inspiration. Thanks to her personality, energy and perfect taste, she used to wear with very special elegance the most spectacular jewels of her husband.

Jacques Gautier being an ardent supporter of the Sacred Art, he designed in particular stained glass windows for the romansque church of Saint-Michel of Grimaud in 1975, and for the chapel of the Stanislas college in Paris in 1978, where he also made an enameled steel sculpture fort the baptistery of Saint-Marcel parish. He conceives as well mirrors, pictures and glass sculptures for private interior architecture.

Jacques Gautier’s works, the conception and achievement of which originate in one and single person, are expressed in a great independence of mind and, when unique objects are at stake, with a daring fancy inspired by the personality of the woman they were designed for.

In 1999 was instead a retrospective exhibition in Musée des Arts Décoratifs dedicated to Jacques Gautier’s artworks, made between the 50’s and the 70’s.

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We also invite you to visit the website of Jacques Gautier – http://www.jacquesgautier.fr/Biography.html