Spectacular Screen 1900 - Art Nouveau Nancy

A jewel of Nancy Art Nouveau! An exceptional triptych formerly mounted as a screen.

Marie MARLIER (1862-1917)
Rowan Tree and Woodland Angelica, circa 1900.
Three oil paintings on canvas forming a screen, signed lower left M. Marlier.
Height 150 cm, width 45 cm x 3.
Restorations.
Original frame and hinges.

Marie MARLIER (1862-1917) was born on June 7, 1862, in Remiremont, Vosges, near Epinal, and is one of those forgotten women artists who belonged fully to the Nancy School. A flower and landscape painter, she was a student of Pierre Weigmann (1860-1937) and Jules Adler (1865-1952). She exhibited her works at the Nancy Salon from 1892 to 1905, and also in Paris at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899, and 1908. Her flower paintings depict not bouquets but wild plants in the open air: "Hollyhocks," "Honeysuckle," "Yellow Dog Rose," and her landscapes of "rustic gardens" or "Morning Studies." She thus fully embraced the naturalist movement of the turn of the century. She died on November 3, 1917, in Bouxurulles, in her native Vosges region.
Another four-panel screen by her is known, exhibited twice in 1901, first at the Maison d'Art Lorraine (see reproduction) and then at the Salon de Langres.

This triptych screen is a wonderful example of the refinement of the Nancy School, reflecting both the aesthetics of Art Nouveau and the regional identity of Lorraine. The artist uses two plants commonly found in the Vosges Mountains: the Rowan tree in the upper section and the Wild Angelica in the lower part of the composition.
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the angelica provides slender, vertical lines, while the Rowan tree at the top offers arabesques and touches of vibrant color thanks to its red berries.

But the combination of these two plants is not solely a matter of formal design; it is also a typically Art Nouveau expression of Nature as a vital force, and this screen offers a particularly rich symbolism.
The rowan tree has been considered a protective tree since the Middle Ages, warding off misfortune and evil spirits. Its bright red berries, particularly vibrant in autumn, symbolize energy, perseverance, vitality, and strength.
Wild angelica, on the other hand, evokes inner protection, health, and healing. Together, they form a protective duo.

The angelica's stems, with their large, delicate, and airy umbels, also symbolize spiritual elevation and growth. Placed one beneath the other, delicately intertwined, this pair embodies an ideal: that of inner elevation under vigorous protective forces. They invite meditation on the coexistence of the fragile and the robust, the feminine and the masculine.