PIERRE LARDIN

Artist, glassmaker, stained glass artist, engraver or jeweller, so many talents for which Pierre Lardin is recognized by his peers. In 1916, he entered the Ecole Boulle (burin engraving workshop) and came first in the final exam. He begins to work with Maurice Dufrêne from 1920 to 1924 that he will follow later at "La Maîtrise" of the Galeries Lafayette, followed by different workshops: Edgar Brandt, the jeweller Cartier and at Gruber where he is initiated to stained glass. From then on, Pierre Lardin specialized in the art of engraved glass. In 1925 he received the Grand Prix at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs. He creates furniture sets, theatre sets, wallpaper models (Nobilis Éditeur), vases for the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, wooden puppets for the Compagnie Lyonnaise, as well as toys and jewellery.

During the Second World War he was held captive in Krakow. During this period he created and directed with his comrades the magazine Le Crack, which was awarded the French Academy.

Later, he made the mirror his favourite material, allowing him to use a wide range of techniques and let his imagination create a world of myths and poetry filled with goddesses and other animals such as the unicorn, the swan or the dove.

As a teacher, he devoted much of his time to dispensing his knowledge in various schools in France, then became director of the Fine Arts of Grenoble in 1954 and that of Bordeaux from 1958 until his retirement. Pierre Lardin died in Paris in 1982 and is considered as one of the great glass artists of the period like Robert Pensart or Max Ingrand.