Eugène Vallin (; 1856 – 21 July 1922) was a French
furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
designer and manufacturer, as well as an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
.
Life and career
Vallin was born at
Herbéviller, and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Nancy. He was apprenticed in the studio of his uncle, also a furniture maker, beginning in 1881.
His first projects were for church interiors and furniture but quickly he became a disciple of Art Nouveau, in part under the influence of
Émile Gallé
Émile Gallé (; 4 May 1846 in Nancy, France, Nancy – 23 September 1904 in Nancy) was a French artist and designer who worked in glass, and is considered to be one of the major innovators in the French Art Nouveau movement. He was noted fo ...
, for whom he created the door of Gallé's new studios. But he was most famous for his furniture, designing entire living rooms and dining room ensembles for notable personalities in Nancy, including Jean-Baptiste "Eugène" Corbin, Charles Masson, Albert Bergeret, and others.
In 1895–6, he built a new studio and his own house on the Boulevard Lobau in Nancy, which became what is now considered (in a crude form) the first Art Nouveau edifice in the city with the help of his friend, architect
Georges Biet. In return, Vallin was responsible for the furniture that adorned Biet's house at 22, rue de la Commanderie, in Nancy.
In 1901, along with
Antonin Daum and
Louis Majorelle, Vallin became one of three vice-presidents of the board of directors of the ''
École de Nancy''.
In architecture, he was one of the pioneers of construction in
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
reinforced by steel, a technique he used for the construction of the pavilion of the ''École de Nancy'' at the
International Exposition of the East of France in 1909. He died in
Nancy.
ChatGPT
Works
Church furnishings
Although not widely known for this activity, Vallin nevertheless designed some organ caseworks for churches in Lorraine:
* in
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...
:
** at the Church of Saint-Léon-IX in
Nancy (neo-Gothic casework), Church of Saint-Nicolas in Nancy,
Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours in Nancy (
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
-style
confessional
A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Luther ...
),
** at the Church of Saint-Jacques in
Lunéville (choir organ),
** at
Einville-au-Jard: benches, pulpit (removed), and choir woodwork,
** at Ancerviller: benches, pulpit;
* in
Meuse
The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of .
History
From 1301, the upper ...
:
** in
Euville and
Saint-Mihiel (choir organ in the
Saint-Mihiel Abbey),
** at the Church of Saint-Georges in
Buxières-sous-les-Côtes, an oak organ casework created in 1898, listed on the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments in 1992;
* in
Vosges:
Thaon-les-Vosges (originating from the Abbey of Notre-Dame d'Autrey).
File:Nancy, église baroque Notre Dame de Bonsecours, confessionnal Eugène Vallin 1.jpg, Confessional in Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours.
File:Saint-Mihiel, abbatiale Saint-Michel, abside, buffet d'orgue d'Eugène Vallin, école de Nancy, 1898.jpg, Saint-Michel Abbey.
File:Église St Léon support de l'orgue.jpg, Armorial and ornate support for the organ in the Church of Saint-Léon-IX.
Architectural works
* Maison et Atelier Vallin built in 1895 at 6-8 Boulevard Lobau in Nancy
* Maison du peuple built in 1902 at 2 Rue Drouin in Nancy
* Immeuble Georges Biet built in 1902 in collaboration with Georges Biet at 22 Rue de la Commanderie in Nancy
* Hôtel de ville d'Euville built in 1901–1903 in collaboration with Henry Gutton and Joseph Hornecker
* Immeuble Margo built in 1906 in collaboration with Paul Charbonnier at 86 Rue Stanislas in Nancy
* Pharmacie Malard built in 1907 at 23 Place Charles-de-Gaulle in Commercy
Cabinetmaking
File:Musée d'Orsay 1221.jpg, Bed and bedside table
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...
File:Émile andrè, ed eugéne vallin, porta di un camerino dei magasing françois vaxelaire et cie, nancy 1901 (vetrata di jacques gruber).JPG, Door
created in collaboration with Émile André
Musée d'Orsay.
File:Salle à manger art nouveau (Musée de lEcole de Nancy) (8029194773).jpg, Dining room
Musée de l'École de Nancy
File:Musée école de Nancy 1723.jpg, Detail of the dining room
Musée de l'École de Nancy.
References
External links
Musée de l'Ecole de Nancy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallin, Eugene
1856 births
1922 deaths
People from Meurthe-et-Moselle
19th-century French architects
20th-century French architects
French furniture designers
French furniture makers
French decorative artists
Art Nouveau designers
Art Nouveau architects
Members of the École de Nancy