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An Art Nouveau pioneer, remembered

He had a decisive influence on the renewal of decorative art in France during the Art Nouveau period. Eugène Grasset, who was born in Switzerland and later became a French citizen, died 100 years ago today.

Eugène Grasset was born in Lausanne in 1845. After studying architecture in Zurich and traveling to Egypt, he worked as a painter and sculptor before settling in Paris at the age of 26. Thanks to contacts with artists from Cabaret Le Chat Noir and the Charles Gillot printer, Grasset was involved in the industrial and aesthetic renewal of furniture, illustration and poster art.

After his exhibition at the Salon des Cent in 1894, Grasset became the master of the new generation that was emerging at the time. This included the Swiss painter Augusto Giacometti (1877-1947).

Grasset not only created the famous “Semeuse à tout vent”, the sower who became the logo of the publisher Larousse. He also designed his own typeface, the “Grasset”.

On October 23, 1917 Grasset died at the age of 72 in Sceaux, France.

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