Samuel Siegfried Bing (26 February 1838 – 6 September 1905), who usually gave his name as S. Bing (not to be confused with his brother, Samuel Otto Bing, 1850–1905), was a German-French

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

who lived in Paris as an adult, and who helped introduce

Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...

and artworks to the West and was a factor in the development of the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style during the late nineteenth century.

Early life

Bing was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, a member of a large family with diverse commercial interests. He relocated to France in 1854, to help manage the

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s manufacturing business of Bing family in-laws, and resided in France for the remainder of his life. He became a naturalized French citizen in 1876. Bing married a second cousin, Johanna Baer, in July 1868. Their son Marcel Bing eventually became a business associate of his father's, as well as a jewelry designer of Art Nouveau style.

Career

In 1873, on the death of his elder brother Michael, Siegfried Bing became the head of Bing family enterprises in France. Bing developed a flourishing import-export business from the 1870s onward, working through several commercial entities with various partners and family members; he concentrated on the importation and sale of Japanese and other Asian ''objets d'art,'' though his business also exported French goods to Japan, working through a

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

office managed by his younger brother August. In December 1895 he opened his famous gallery, the

Maison de l'Art Nouveau The Maison de l'Art Nouveau ("House of New Art"), abbreviated often as L'Art Nouveau, and known also as Maison Bing for the owner, was a gallery opened on 26 December 1895, by Siegfried Bing at 22 rue de Provence, Paris.Martin Eidelberg and Suzan ...

, which showed works of artists of what would become known as the

style.

Henry van de Velde Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...

designed the interior of the gallery, while

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the art nouveauLander, David"The Buyable ...

supplied stained glass. Bing's gallery featured entire rooms designed in the Art Nouveau style by his in-house designers. During the gallery's most successful period, 1896–1902, Bing sold a great variety of artistic work, included fabrics designed by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

, glassware by

, jewelry, paintings, ceramics, stained glass, and furniture of Art Nouveau style. Bing dealt with customers ranging from private collectors to major museums, and helped to promote a global

art market The art market is the marketplace of buyers and sellers trading commodities, services, and works of art. The art market follows an economic model that considers more than supply and demand; it is a market where art is bought and sold for values ...

. His pavilion at the 1900 Paris World's Fair was especially notable. By this time Bing was the primary European dealer for the Rookwood Pottery Co. of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and the Grueby Faience Company of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, as well as the wares of Tiffany. Bing had also a significant role in promoting artists who were associated in the new style movement named

Les Nabis The Nabis (, ) were a group of young French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from Impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of modernism. The me ...

, including

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist gr ...

Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, Vuillard was a member of the avant garde artistic group Les Nabis, creating paintings that assembled areas ...

Maurice Denis Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with '' Les Nabis'', symbolism, ...

, Paul Sérusier,

Paul Ranson Paul-Élie Ranson (; 29 March 1861 – 20 February 1909) was a French painter and writer associated with Les Nabis. Biography He was born in Limoges. His mother died in childbirth, so he was raised and educated by his grandparents and his ...

and

Félix Vallotton Félix Édouard Vallotton (; December 28, 1865December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as '. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portra ...

. Les Nabis et le décor. Musée du Luxembourg, Paris. https://en.museeduluxembourg.fr/les-nabis-et-le-decor

Influence

Bing advanced the careers of a wide range of artists, including Louis Bonnier,

Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...

, and

, the designers Eugène Gaillard, Edward Colonna, William Benson, and Georges de Feure, and the sculptor

Constantin Meunier Constantin Meunier (; 12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and mi ...

. Bing closed his gallery during 1904, a year before his death, when the fashion for Art Nouveau was already beginning to wane. Bing's activities were important, perhaps crucial, to the Japanese influence on Art Nouveau. He published a monthly journal, ''

Le Japon Artistique ''Artistic Japan'' was a magazine of Japanese art, published by German-born French art dealer Siegfried Bing. It ran for thirty-six monthly issues from 1888 to 1891 in French, English, and German editions and contributed to a revival of Japonism. ...

'', which began in 1888 and was collected in three volumes in 1891. The journal influenced people like

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Dam, Peter van. "Siegfried Bing 1838-1905." ''Andon,'' Summer 1983, pp. 10–14. * Miyajima Hisao. "S. Bing's visit to Japan." In: ''Bulletin of the Study of Japonisme'' 2 (1982), S. 29–33. * Troy, Nancy J. ''Modernism and the Decorative Arts in France: Art Nouveau to Le Corbusier'' New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. * Weisberg, Gabriel P., Edwin Becker, and Évelyne Possémé, eds. ''The Origins of L'Art Nouveau: The Bing Empire.'' Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, distributed by Cornell University Press 2004. * Weisberg, Gabriel P., ''Art Nouveau Bing:Paris Style, 1900'' Harry N Abrams Inc New York 1986

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bing, Siegfried 1838 births 1905 deaths German art collectors 19th-century art collectors 20th-century art collectors Art Nouveau Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery German art dealers

Early life

Career

Influence

References and sources

Further reading

External links