Poetic Réflexion

Line Vautrin, dubbed “The poetess of metal”, marked the 20th century with her singular and lyrical work. Having started as a jewellery designer, Vautrin and her elegant objects were first discovered by the public at the 1937 Paris Exposition.

The production of her famous mirrors began in the 50s and relied on the use of a new material: Talosel, for which she filed a patent. This resin was the result of her thirst for experimentation and became the main element of her work. Malleable under the effect of heat, it allows the inlaying of fragments of glass and colored mirrors. Vautrin heated, bent, and scarified with the use of pliers, scissors and scalpels to create a new kind of mirror.

Through these mural sculptures, the artist revisited the 18th century baroque mirror, infusing elegance, poetry and humour. Vautrin’s creations are nourished by a unique and identifiable iconography that prevails over the initial function of the mirrors, which rarely shows the reflection of those who look at them. The rare models gathered in this exhibition – Folie, Roi Soleil, Huître, Monaco – are perfect examples of Line Vautrin’s purely artistic approach, which distances itself from the tradition of the Decorative Arts.

Line Vautrin died of a heart attack in 1997, at the age of 84. She will have known the consecration of her life as a major French artist. In 1999, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris paid tribute to her with a retrospective exhibition.