Page 256 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

THE DINING ROOM DOME work. Glaziers’ workshops, by contrast, had no compunction documentation relating to the choice of the glazier and the
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in signing their creations, even if they were – as in most cases – iconography selected for the commission is missing. The dome
IN THE BEAU-RIVAGE PALACE: imitating and adapting designs from the pattern books abundant seems to have been completed rapidly – the minutes of the board

A STAINED-GLASS SHOWPIECE in Vienna, Munich, Paris and New York in the late nineteenth of directors in the spring of 1908 mention delays for other projects
but not for this one: a great achievement for a stained-glass work
century. None the less, for major projects an artist – generally a
painter – was commissioned to produce original cartoons which of this size and with such a large surface to be painted.
were then executed in collaboration: the glass-painter’s job was to Otto Haberer was born in Ludwigsburg, Germany on 17
apply the paint to the glass before it was fired in the kiln, while the June 1866 and studied at the school of decorative arts at Stuttgart
glazier encased the glass in the lead. In the town of Lausanne, to and Munich between 1884 and 1891. He moved to Zurich in
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our knowledge, only two glass works – both of them monumental 1891, where he worked as a painter, decorative painter and restorer,
pieces – were signed by the painters who designed the cartoon: then to Bern in 1894, and finally lived in Gumlingen near Bern
the dome of the Galeries du Commerce and that in Beau-Rivage from 1903 to 1922. He won a gold medal at the Bern national
Fabienne HOFFMANN
Palace. The Palace dome, produced between 1907 and 1908, exhibition in 1914 for his paintings in the ballroom, entrance
The development of secular stained glass in the late of a very large number of private properties through to 1914. borrows from neo-Baroque style for its designs. While the centre and various sections of the exhibition. He was an important
nineteenth century was not just a fashion phenomenon – it Shopping arcades, brasseries, schools and hotels felt duty-bound of the dome was produced using clear cathedral glass, decorated specialist in frescos and monumental decors, and his work and
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was also, primarily, the consequence of a number of technical to brighten their interiors with stained glass. These coloured with a design of garlands and stylised flowers to allow the light that of his workshop was to be seen across German- and French-
developments. In Lausanne, electricity was introduced into public windows were generally used to adorn stairwells or doorways to through, its border was given a more elaborate design in the form speaking Switzerland, and in the canton of Grisons, particularly in
and private buildings from 1882 onwards, and became more halls or lounges. In the Jura-Simplon hotel (Avenue de la Gare of four women, each sitting in a conch shell and bearing a certain public buildings such as stations, post offices, churches, theatres, a
widespread between 1898 and 1902 with the construction of 25-27, now demolished), a monumental stained-glass panel resemblance to the muses of Alfons Mucha. They are strangely sanatorium, schools, cinemas, cafés and so on. He made his name
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the Pierre de Plan power station. The arrival of artificial lighting produced by Eduard Diekmann’s workshop between 1910 and positioned, all with the upper body facing forwards and the lower above all as a ‘hotel painter’. He produced the paintings of the
significantly altered how relations between the interior and 1911 served as a partition between the reception and the dining body in a three-quarter turn. Identifying them is not easy because ballroom and the Restaurant Français at the Montreux-Palace
exterior of a building were perceived: now that letting through room. The large surface area and ventilation system required by their accoutrements (flowers, musical instruments, etc.) are not in 1904, under the direction of architect Eugène Jost. He also
natural light was no longer so important it was acceptable to make a hotel dining room often led architects to build it in a single- explicit; perhaps they are four seasons, four muses, or allegories decorated the walls of the chancel of the Catholic church in Vevey
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rooms darker by adding ornamental stained-glass windows. storey annexe, making it possible to light the space from above by of nature (connected with those decorating the hall). The glazier in 1897 and produced the decoration (stucco and painting) of the
The use of concrete also brought advances in construction means of a glazed dome – presenting an opportunity for master did not skimp on the use of very high-quality glass and made grand hall of the Casino d’Yverdon in 1898, under the direction
which made it possible to enlarge windows and ornament them glaziers to showcase their skill and expertise alongside the other the most of all the glass-painting techniques available (grisaille, of the architects Louis Bezencenet and Alexandre Girardet.
with coloured glass. Stained glass, offering the magical effects of craftsmen commissioned for this showpiece. Domes bejewelled enamel, yellow-stain, acid etching) to draw these figures and their
colour playing on the light, quickly became a must for owners with decorative stained glass were to be seen in many hotels in the sumptuous garments. EDUARD DIEKMANN AND E. RYCHLY
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who wanted their buildings to lay claim to status and reflect nearby region, in Montreux and Territet – yet there is no doubt Although Otto Haberer supplied the cartoon, the glass
the latest fashion. Art Nouveau stained-glass windows appeared that Beau-Rivage Palace was distinctive right from the start for its OTTO HABERER painting itself seems to have been carried out by E. Rychly,
in the major European capitals around 1880, facilitated by the design and the quality of the execution. The choice, in August 1907, of Otto Haberer as the cartoonist probably an employee of the Diekmann workshop – he signed his
introduction of industrially manufactured glass and the new for the stained-glass dome, seems to have been a natural one: he work with a discreet signature, near the basket of flowers placed
American-style opalescent glasses. Although Lausanne’s glass- THE STAINED GLASS IN THE DINING ROOM had been selected to paint the walls of the same room and to next to one of the female figures around the circumference of the
making workshops did not appear until around 1900, they then (NOW THE SANDOZ ROOM) create the paintings and sculptures in the rotunda. We know that composition.
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proved astonishingly prolific, supplying thousands of square metres It was relatively rare for mosaic and stucco artists, ornamental the architect Louis Bezencenet had already collaborated with Eduard Diekmann was born in 1852 and came from Ham-
of stained glass for public facilities and to ornament the windows ironworkers, cabinetmakers or architectural painters to sign their him, notably on the Casino d’Yverdon in 1898. Nevertheless, burg. He opened a stained-glass workshop in Lausanne in 1900,

Is she one of the muses? Or an allegory of the four seasons or of nature? The glazier used glass of the finest quality and applied a variety
One of the female figures adorning the border of the stained-glass dome. of glass-painting techniques (grisaille, enamel, yellow-stain and acid etching)
to create these female figures, their garments and the floral decorations.

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