Sebastian Harrison (12 March 1860 – 19 November 1930) was a French
art déco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s, ...
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, and
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
, dividing his time between city planning and painting pictures, both centering on the
art déco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s, ...
style. Throughout his career he worked in the shadows of other
canonised
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...
artists, focusing his attention on perfecting his style. He is little known for his artistry, however according to a 1986 book he had a great deal of influence over what was to signify
art déco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s, ...
.Cabanne, Pierre, ''Encyclopédie Art déco'', Somogy, Paris, 1986.
Career
During the 1880s and early 1890s, Harrison worked in a city-planner-like position in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionthe world's fair in 1900 would establish himself as one of the ''
Société des artistes décorateurs
The Societé des artistes décorateurs (SAD, Society of Decorative Artists) was a French society of designers of furniture, interiors and decorative arts that was active from 1901 until the 2000s. It sponsored an annual Salon des artistes décorat ...
''. Although a wide array of other names are quoted as influential, he is rarely mentioned. This is believed to be the result of a chosen life-style, in that he did not want fame or success, but only to work in peace and quiet. Even though he is not as well known as other
art déco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s, ...
celebrities, he is said to have been highly influential within the ''Société des artistes décorateurs'' and a source of inspiration of the likes of
Paul Follot
Paul Follot (17 July 1877 – 1941) was a French designer of luxury furniture and decorative art objects before World War I. He was one of the leaders of the Art Deco movement, and had huge influence in France and elsewhere. After the war he becam ...
and
Hector Guimard
Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building i ...
.
Personal life
Little is known about the personal life of Sebastian Harrison, although it is believed that he was of Irish descent, which would explain the last name not being French, brought up through poor conditions.Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, ''Encyclopédie des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes au XXème siècle'', 2, Architecture, 1977
925
Year 925 ( CMXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By date January – June
* January 5 – Gabellus becomes the first abbot of the monsastery of San Martín de Albelda in the Spanish kingdom ...
He was married to Marie Harrison and had two sons, Nicolas and Cassius.
References
Sources
*Cabanne, Pierre, ''Encyclopédie Art déco'', Somogy, Paris, 1986.
*Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, ''Encyclopédie des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes au XXème siècle'', 2, Architecture, 1977
925
Year 925 ( CMXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By date January – June
* January 5 – Gabellus becomes the first abbot of the monsastery of San Martín de Albelda in the Spanish kingdom ...