The Only Way to Cross

To say that I was waiting with trepidation for this exhibition is probably an understatement. To me, there are two major reasons which make this show all the more exciting. First, I don’t seem to remember any exhibition on ocean liners which focused on their designs. More often than not, ocean liners are discussed in maritime or sociological terms. The second reason which makes this exhibition exceptional is the range, and the quality, of the large selection (more than 200) of pieces on display, some seen for the first time in Europe, such as a wood carved panel from the Titanic first class lounge. Other wonders include: a monumental lacquered panel by Jean Dunand for Normandie’s first class smoking lounge, some furniture from the Queen Mary’s long gallery, the wardrobe of Miss Emily Grigsby…

The exhibition, curated by Ghislaine Wood and Daniel Finamore, explores in a really engaging and immersive manner - thanks to the clever scenography - a 100 years of traveling by sea, when crossing the Atlantic by sea was the only way to cross (to echo the title of a seminal book on the subject written by the brilliant John Maxtone-Graham).

Rather than being chronological, the show is thematic and first looks at the promotion of liners then at the politics of style to ends with the idea of the liner as a machine. Here, is a very personal take on some of the objects exhibited which I was really keen to contemplate. I’m adding some information and visuals which show the objects in their original contexts.

I was particularly looking forward to seeing those oak panels from the communication gallery of the France of 1912. The doors come from the embarkation hall of the same liner. As throughout the ship, references to the Sun King are dotted around, as here on the upper part of the doors , and blended with the Louis XVI background. The ensemble was executed by the Ateliers Georges Remon in Paris. The two armchairs come from the first class dining room of the France. The exhibition uses many visual tricks to contextualise the pieces exhibited.

A panel from the large glass mural ‘L’Enlevement D’Europe’ designed by Jean Dupas and executed by Jacques-Charles Champigneulle for the first class Grand Salon of Normandie (1934). The process behind such glass panels was called ‘verre eglomise’. The term was coined after an 18th century restorer of glass-panelled picture frames called Jean-Baptiste Glomy. Rather than drawing his design on a canvas, Dupas sketched it directly on the reverse of glass panels which were then assembled into a mosaic. The difficulty of the eglomised glass process lays in the fact that images are painted and then covered with silver, gold and palladium leaves in reverse so that highlights are done first and background colours last. The panel is only one of the hundreds (as shown with the red rectangle in the second photograph) that were adorning the main lounge where 4 large murals were created, covering a total surface of more than 400 meters square.

An absolutely breathtaking lacquer panel by Jean Dunand which was adorning one of the walls of Normandie’s first class smoking lounge on Promenade Deck (1935). The set of 4 panels that Dunand created for this space had for overarching theme: ‘Man’s Games and Pleasures’. This one is tilted ‘Les Sports’ and represents characters ‘a l’égyptienne’ for they are represented sideways. The other panels were titled ‘fishing’, ‘horse taming’ and ‘wine harvest’. Dunand used a Sugarawa formula (a blend of plaster, gesso and clay) which prevented wood from warping if only one side is lacquered. Dunand, with the help of his son, would carve the images and then up to 30 layers of lacquer were covering the surface of the panel. To prevent any crackling or shrinking the studio was kept moist which extended the drying process to up to 3 days. Between each layer of lacquer the surface was polished to a mirror finish. After the last layer was applied, the surface was covered with gold leaves before being polished with charcoal powder.

Maria Riva, Marlene Dietrich’s daughter, remembers traveling on the Normandie as a child. As she explored the ship by herself one day, Maria finds herself in the First Class smoking lounge with its ‘raisin-suede chairs’ and described Jean Dunand’s lacquers as ‘murals depicting the life of ancient Egypt that would have made Tutankhamen envious’. A photograph of Normandie’s First Class Smoking lounge on Promenade deck coming from a 1935 French Line brochure. If the adjacent Grand Lounge had a cross plan, the Smoking room followed a T shape and was 2 decks high (against the 2,5 decks height of the Main Lounge). Like all the public rooms of Promenade Deck, it was under the supervision of architects Roger-Henri Expert and Richard Bouwens van der Boijen. This room had an almost pharaonic feel with its gold lacquered walls, and 4 large lacquered murals by Jean Dunand. On this occasion, Dunand created a series of everyday life scenes (hunting, fishing, sports and harvesting) in an Ancient history spirit. The dark maroons, greens and reds of the murals were complimented by the dark prune and Havana colours of the leather armchairs. The mural ‘Les sports’ by Jean Dunand is normally on permanent display at the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

Two of the twelve bronze gilded tiles placed on the back of the 6 meters high double doors of the first class dining room of Normandie. The second photograph, taken while the ship was still being furnished, shows those pieces in context.

A colour photograph of Normandie's first class dining room. Normandie’s monumental First Class dining room on C Deck. Capable of welcoming all first class passengers in one sitting (more than 700 guests), this space rose on three decks, occupying a vast volume inside the hull. In order to achieve such an architectural prowess many webbed towers had to be built within the side bulkheads in order to avoid any columns. The publicity department of the French Line never missed an opportunity to stress that this 93.3 meters long (305 feet ) room was longer than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. The allusion to Versailles was all the more relevant than here too glass was the main material. With a width of 14 meters (46 feet), the room also provided private dining rooms on each side. Architects Pierre Patout and Henri Pacon used 720 square meters of glass some of which were hammered. The lozenge pattern of the glass slabs was created by August Labouret, who tinted the back of each one in amber. Mounted on a mirrored walls with light within, the result was an ethereal and warm light. The incandescent bulbs hidden in the gold coffered ceiling also played an important part in achieving this effect. Lalique designed the 38 4,87 meters high light fixtures placed at regular interval on the walls. The two large chandeliers (5 tons each) placed at each ends of the room were also signed by Lalique. But perhaps the most iconic Lalique design in the room was the 12 pots a feu that writer Colette described as icebergs on the maiden voyage. In 1936, judged to cumbersome for service, 6 of the pots a feu were removed, as it is visible on this 1937 colour photograph. Patout drew a rubber carpet with navy, black and purple squares delineated with fine white lines. The only problem with this rubber carpet is that it wasn’t absorbing any sounds and paired with the onyx and glass cladding of the walls, the dining room was actually very noisy. Patout also designed the dark mahogany chairs with Ruhlmann-esque legs. The gild-lacquered statue, by sculptor Dejean, at the back was titled Peace.

When I think of the history of style in furniture, I often think back of a gallery of chairs at the Musee de Arts Decoratifs in Paris which chronicles the evolution of styles by focusing on one item of furniture: the chair. The series of chairs exhibited in 'Ocean Liners, Speed & Style' reminds of the curatorial set up in Paris and tells the story of the different designs from pretty much the same period but from different countries.

A mahogany and velvet chair from the first class Grand Salon of the Ile de France (1927). I’ve seen this chair in photographs many times but it’s only after seeing it in the flesh that I fully appreciate how vibrant its colours are. Designed by Louis Sue and Andre Mare - and made by Henri Nelson with an Aubusson upholstery - this would have been a flamboyant piece in the gold and dark red lacquers, of the lounge. It is all the more remarkable to be able to admire it today than the upholstery of the furniture of the Ile de France’s lounge was replaced by a lighter and sober textile in 1934.

The original 1927 decoration created by Sue and Mare for the first class main lounge of the Ile de France (the design scheme was modified in 1934 to fit the new motto of the company ‘air, light, space... gaiety’). The room, decorated with scarlet columns and a gold coffer ceiling was an extension of the precepts showcased in the 1925 exhibition.

A sycamore chair from the first class dining room of the Ile de France designed by Pierre Patout (1927). The chair was made by the house Neveu and the upholstery was by Brunet-Meunie. Here, the textile is a modern exact reproduction of the original design. Looking at this wonder, I was astounded by the boldness of the design which, almost a century later, I find to be just as striking.

An adorable chair coming from the first class children’s playroom of Normandie decorated by architect Marc Simon. Illustrator Jacqueline Duché was commissioned to paint the mural (circa 1934). The children playroom was located on Sun Deck at the foot of the third funnel - which was a dummy - hence the arched wall.

It took many talents to create the flowery sumptuousness of this side chair from the first class grand salon of Normandie: the chair itself in gilded wood was designed by Jean-Marie Rothschild and made by Baptistin Spade and Georges Lebrun. As for the upholstery in wool and silk tapestry, it was designed by Emile Gaudissard and executed by Maurice Laure in the Aubusson Manufacture.

The red, gold, coral, pearl grey harmony of the first class Lounge of the SS Normandie magnified by the églomise glass murals of Jean Dupas conceived around the history of navigation. This colour photograph from 1937 provides an incredible glimpse into the sumptuous space created by Roger-Henri Expert and Richard Bouwens van der Boijen on Promenade Deck. The photograph is taken looking aft towards the smoking lounge which leads to the Grill Room. M. Gaudissard designed the flower patterns found on the Aubusson upholstery and on the giant rug.

All these artifacts are part of a scenography which takes the visitor onboard to a crossing. The most spectacular effect created for the exhibition is probably the 'Grande Descente' or, in other words, the impressive staircase that was leading passengers to the dinning room and where they could make an entrance in style. The purpose of these staircases (always mandatory on French liners) were part of the theatrics accompanying the ritual of dinner, where passengers were at the same time actors and observers. The narrative of the exhibition culminates in the sun deck setting where visitors found themselves on deck, spotting liners passing by on the horizon, while contemplating a starry sky around the outdoor swimming pool. An atmosphere arises from the displays which made me reflect on the nature of time during a four day crossing where one is forced, so to speak, to befriend impatience while being part of the self-contained world (with its own customs, traditions, and culture -for reference John Maxtone-Graham remarks, for instance, that first class passengers were never lock their cabins, a notion that is just unfathomable for a contemporary traveller) that an ocean liner was. Ultimately, the interior design of ocean liners was intrinsically linked to a bygone art de vivre  which disappeared with WWII.