Identity:

Georges Lemmen was a genre painter and decorative artist.

Life:

Lemmen made his exhibition début in 1875. Between 1884 and 1886 he showed with the Essor group in Brussels. His paintings were influenced by the work of Dürer, Holbein and his contemporary Khnopff. In 1888 he became a member of Les XX and experimented with pointillism, e.g. The Carousel (1890-1; Private Collection, Toulon). He exhibited with Les XX until 1893 and then with its successor La Libre Esthétique.

In the 1890s Lemmen became a central figure in the decorative arts, designing wallpaper, rugs, tiles, mosaics and books. In 1891 he wrote an article on Walter Crane in Art Moderne. He worked for galleries such as S. Bing's L'Art Nouveau and Julius Meier-Graefe's La Maison Moderne in Paris, and for the Keller & Reiner and Cassirer in Berlin. He contributed to journals including Art Moderne, Van nu en straks, The Savoy, Dekorative Kunst and Die Insel.

Bibliography:

Bénézit, E., Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, 8 vols, Paris, 1956-61; Block, Jane, 'Georges Lemmen', The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, ed. L. Macy, http://www.groveart.com (accessed 03 December 2003).