Jean Goulden (1878 – 1946) French Artisan & Crafter

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Unique Box circa 1928 by Jean Goulden (Christies)

Jean Goulden was a French painter, musician, and crafter who lived from 1878 to 1946. He was from Meuse and Francois-Louis Schmied’s son-in-law. He was born to a family of Alsatian farmers and studied medicine in Paris. During World War I, he served as a doctor on the front line in Macedonia and was influenced by the local Byzantine enamels. He collaborated with Jean Dunand and Paul Jouve and François-Louis Schmied, exhibiting together at Galerie Georges Petit from 1921 to 1932.

Education

He went to Ecole Alsacienne in Paris to study medicine.

Biography

In 1906, he published his thesis on the physiology of the heart. In 1908, he became a consultant at the hospital Laénnec in Paris. During World War I, he found Byzantine enamels near Mount Athos in Macedonia. When he returned to Paris, he convinced Jean Dunand to teach him the art of champlevé enamelling. Through Dunand, he became friends with Jean Lambert-Rucki, Paul Jouve.

His works were geometric, and their patterns were put together like paintings. His caskets had overlapping and uneven block patterns, and his Cubist pendulum clocks were some of his best pieces. Until 1928, when he moved to Rheims, Goulden had a studio in Paris. Only 180 of his items are known to exist. These include coupés, clocks, cigarette boxes, small boxes, and silver plaques for bindings made by Georges Cretté and Schmied. Schmied used crushed black morocco with silver-metal mounts and coloured enamelled champs to bind his book about his travels in Macedonia.

Recognition

From 1924 on, his work, along with that of Dunand, Jouve, Lambert-Rucki, and Schmied, was shown at the Paris galleries Galerie Georges Petit and Galerie Charpentier. His work was shown on its own and at the Société des Artistes Décorateurs’ Salons every year. His work with Dunand was the subject of a tribute show at the Galerie du Luxembourg in Paris in 1973.

Collections

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

JEAN GOULDEN (1878-1946). (n.d.). JEAN GOULDEN (1878-1946). Retrieved March 12, 2023, from https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5644941

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