Coqs et poules.

Maurice Pillard Verneuil prints bring the curling plants, peacocks, seahorses and bold patterns of French Art Nouveau design into your home. Verneuil was a decorator, pattern designer and writer who turned flowers and animals into wallpapers, textiles, tiles and stencil designs. Our collection of fine art prints covers his plant studies, animal and sea-life ornaments, design plates for furnishings, and later abstract patterns.

About Maurice Pillard Verneuil

Maurice Pillard Verneuil was born in Saint-Quentin, in northern France, on 29 April 1869. In 1888 he enrolled in the architecture section of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, while teaching himself subjects as varied as enamelling, Egyptology and painting techniques. In 1892 he joined the École Guérin to study decorative composition with the Swiss designer Eugène Grasset, and began to take an interest in Japanese art and in natural forms, especially plants, animals and sea life.

From 1897 Grasset brought him in to illustrate the magazine Art et Décoration, where he also wrote many articles. He made posters for the magazine Le Monde moderne and worked across many media: furniture, marquetry, enamel, ceramics, batik, embroidery, photography, painting and stencil. He collaborated with Grasset, Alphonse Mucha, George Auriol, Armand Point and Mathurin Méheut, among others.

His books were widely used by designers, from L'Animal dans la décoration (1898) and Étude de la plante (1903) to L'ornementation par le pochoir (1910). After the First World War he left Paris for Geneva and from 1921 lived at Rivaz on Lake Geneva with his wife, the painter Adélaïde Verneuil de Marval, with whom he made the abstract portfolio Kaléidoscope. In the early 1920s the couple travelled through Java, Cambodia and Japan, and he later wrote on the art of Java. He taught many pupils, including Amédée Ozenfant, and died at Chexbres, Switzerland, on 21 September 1942.

Style and Subjects

Verneuil's work starts from close study of nature. A single plant, such as wisteria, iris or buttercup, is drawn accurately and then turned into a flowing pattern for a border, a wallpaper or a piece of fabric. His animals, from swans and peacocks to bats, lizards and dragonflies, are treated the same way, simplified into graceful, repeating shapes.

He loved the sea, and his corals, starfish, seahorses and fish are among his liveliest designs. His later work moved from Art Nouveau curves toward the geometric patterns of Art Deco.

Famous Works

• Dictionnaire des symboles, emblèmes et attributs (1897). A reference book of symbols and emblems for artists and designers.
• L'Animal dans la décoration (1898). His book of animal-based ornament, introduced by Eugène Grasset.
• Combinaisons ornementales (1901). A book of decorative designs made with George Auriol and Alphonse Mucha.
• Étude de la plante (1903). A large study of plants and how to apply them to the decorative arts.
• L'ornementation par le pochoir (1910). A guide to decorating with stencils.
• Kaléidoscope: ornements abstraits (1925). Twenty plates of abstract patterns made with Adélaïde Verneuil de Marval and coloured by stencil.

Decorating with Verneuil Prints

Verneuil's plant studies, such as Glycine (wisteria) or Iris Germanique, look lovely in a kitchen, bedroom or garden room, and a set of three or four makes a neat botanical gallery wall.

The sea designs, like Coraux, madrépores, étoiles de mer et algues, are a natural fit for a bathroom or beach house. The abstract and peacock patterns add colour and rhythm to a hallway, home office or modern living room.

FAQ

What art movement was Maurice Pillard Verneuil part of?

He was a decorative artist of the Art Nouveau movement, and his later geometric patterns lead into Art Deco.

Who taught Maurice Pillard Verneuil?

He studied decorative composition with Eugène Grasset at the École Guérin in Paris from 1892, and Grasset later brought him to work for Art et Décoration.

What is Étude de la plante?

Étude de la plante (1903) is Verneuil's book on studying plants and turning them into designs for the decorative arts. It became a standard source for designers.

What did Verneuil design?

He designed posters, wallpapers, textiles, ceramics, enamels, furniture, marquetry and stencil work, as well as many books of ornament.

Related Artists

• Eugène Grasset: his teacher and the designer who brought him to Art et Décoration
• Alphonse Mucha: collaborator on Combinaisons ornementales
• George Auriol: collaborator on Combinaisons ornementales
• Armand Point: French artist he collaborated with