René Lalique

Lalique was born 6 April 1860 in Aÿ, Marne, France, one of two children, to Auguste Jules Lalique (1831–1875), a traveling peddler, and Olympe Lalique (née Berthellemy; 1835–1906). The family relocated to Paris in 1862.

His early life was spent learning the methods of design and art he would use in his later life. At the age of two, his family moved to the suburbs of Paris, but traveled to Aÿ for summer holidays. These trips influenced Lalique later on in his naturalistic glasswork. In 1872, when he was twelve, René entered the Collège Turgot, where he started drawing and sketching. He attended evening classes at the Ecole des arts décoratifs. He worked there from 1874 to 1876 and subsequently spent two years at the Crystal Palace School of Art Sydenham, London. During that time, he also practised as an apprentice goldsmith to leading Parisian Art Nouveau jeweller and goldsmith Louis Aucoc. At the Sydenham Art College, his skills for graphic design were improved, and his naturalistic approach to art was further developed.

In 1876, at 16, René Lalique was apprenticed to the jeweler Louis Aucoc. Aucoc was among the leading jewelers working in Paris at the time, and this provided the young René Lalique with an excellent opportunity to learn jewelry production and design. During this time, Lalique also studied at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

By 1881, Lalique worked as a freelance designer for several French jewelry firms, including Cartier and Boucheron. In 1886, he started working in his workshop in Paris, in the former workshop of Jules Destape.

In 1890, René Lalique opened a jewelry store in the Opéra district of Paris. While working in this new shop, some of René Lalique's most famous jewelry designs were created, as well as his experimentation and use of glass.

The main motif of Lalique's jewelry design was the natural world. His designs often featured motifs such as dragonflies, orchids, and peacocks, crafted using a combination of enamel, gemstones, and semi-precious materials. Lalique surrounded himself at work with flowers to serve as subtle inspiration for his art. These motifs symbolized the organic flow of life, metamorphosis, and beauty in motion. He also incorporated Japanese nature motifs into his art, and used materials that were uncommon in jewelry at the time, including glass, horn, and enamel.

Lalique died on 1 May or 5 May 1945, in Paris. René Lalique was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. His daughter Suzanne Lalique was the painter and set designer for the Comédie-Française. His son Marc Lalique continued the family business as a glass artist himself. It was under his impetus that the Maison Lalique began its transition from glass to crystal in the early 1950s. Marc's daughter, Marie Claude-Lalique (b. 1936), was also a glass maker who died on 14 April 2003 in Fort Myers, Florida.