KAHR, Joan

[240] pp.

Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers

1999

11 1/4′ x 9 3/4″

A handsomely illustrated survey of the work of Art Deco artist-craftsman Edgar Brandt examines his multifaced career as a metalsmith, designer, and entrepreneur and is accompanied by close-up photographs of his extraordinary screens, tables, grilles, lighting fixtures, and bronze vessels.

Edgar William Brandt (24 December 1880 8 May 1960) was a French ironworker and prolific weapons designer. In 1901 he set up a small workshop at 76 rue Michel-Ange in the 16th arrondissement in Paris, where he began designing, silversmithing, and forging small items such as jewelry, crosses, and brooches. His business began to take off with special commissions such as the door of the French Embassy in Brussels, the Escalier Mollien stairs in the Louvre, and the stair and balcony railing for the Grand Theatre Municipal de Nancy.