Medium: Gold, silver, platinum and palladium leaf on glass
Dimensions: Height: 49.5" - Width: 31.5" (each panel)
The Grand Salon of the ocean liner SS Normandie
In the 1930s, the French Line commissioned top artists and designers to create a floating showpiece for national culture and industrial might: the SS Normandie. This ship, the fastest of its day, was the last great expression in the history of French Art Deco and was a tribute to elegance and glamour. The first-class travelers in the Grand Salon were treated to lavish 20-foot-tall murals designed by painter Jean Dupas and executed using the reverse-painting and gilding technique of verre églomisé. Our spectacular 3-panel section is from The Rape of Europa mural. Another mural from the Grand Salon is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum.
Please note that the chip from the lower left of the center panel has been retained for future conservation.
