Throughout history, the concept of gates provides evocative imagery concerning the ideas of Heaven and Hell, limbo and private quarters. These works are physical manifestations of grand stories, and social barriers. The enormous size and various interpretations of these works, through religious, social or historical context, create a sense of judgment. It begs the question: who and what is allowed to physically and mentally pass these gates? Still, some objects don’t possess a definitive answer as to what they are judging, such as Emile Robert’s Pair of Gates, which feature a butterfly motif.1 In Christian art, the butterfly’s life stages represent the life, death and resurrection.2 Combining this knowledge with the modern and historical definitions
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Created circa 1900, the mystery of Pair of Gates must be interpreted from its time period.4 Pair of Gates is entirely open to interpretation. The Art Nouveau movement was in resistance to the increasing industrialization of the world. Not only that, but the Movement was concerned with returning back to nature and organicism. So instead of judging the hierarchy or morals of the world, perhaps these gates are about judging the current scene. Since butterflies represent death and moral metamorphosis, Pair of Gates mean change. Taking that into account, Pair of Gates isn’t about the preservation of the Art Nouveau movement but the decay of it. Like any movement, Art Nouveau had its critics. There was a shift towards the next art movement, Art Deco, in the works since that movement better represented the times of the mechanical era. Considering this, Robert likely grasped the coming end of the movement. Perhaps as an effort to preserve Art Nouveau’s ideals, he created this work while giving it a duality of themes. The ornate aspect of the object fit the stressed importance of nature, and the motif of the butterfly while giving us something interesting to think about. More importantly, the Japanese believe that butterflies symbolize immortality.5 Robert’s soul, in a sense, lives on through his …show more content…
If his death date was 1924, Art Deco was likely in full swing.13 Since there isn’t much work credited to Robert, perhaps Pair of Gates was his end statement. Pair of Gates may be a last effort to acknowledge the life and death of the Art Nouveau movement. While Pair of Gates is beautiful from an aesthetic and compositional standpoint, the underlying message behind Pair of Gates is speaking to the change of society and life around us, whether spiritually, socially or technologically. The modernization of the world causes us to hold onto the past. However, it is paramount that we prepare for the future. It’s brilliant how Robert acknowledged both sides of the era. The conflict of the traditionals set by the Art Nouveau era pushing against Art Deco is depicted through the butterfly. The gate, without a key, is impossible to open. Robert likely never created one since he knew that he couldn’t enter the gate. The key to the world was not his, but his apprentices. Although he could visualize the new movement, and he could see where it was going, he was unable to access it. Whether it was due to being out of his prime, since he was sixty-four when he died, or wanting the next generation to take over, the gates stand for Robert’s inability to move past the age he grew up in.14 In truth, Robert passed on his judgment of the transforming times, but like
Created circa 1900, the mystery of Pair of Gates must be interpreted from its time period.4 Pair of Gates is entirely open to interpretation. The Art Nouveau movement was in resistance to the increasing industrialization of the world. Not only that, but the Movement was concerned with returning back to nature and organicism. So instead of judging the hierarchy or morals of the world, perhaps these gates are about judging the current scene. Since butterflies represent death and moral metamorphosis, Pair of Gates mean change. Taking that into account, Pair of Gates isn’t about the preservation of the Art Nouveau movement but the decay of it. Like any movement, Art Nouveau had its critics. There was a shift towards the next art movement, Art Deco, in the works since that movement better represented the times of the mechanical era. Considering this, Robert likely grasped the coming end of the movement. Perhaps as an effort to preserve Art Nouveau’s ideals, he created this work while giving it a duality of themes. The ornate aspect of the object fit the stressed importance of nature, and the motif of the butterfly while giving us something interesting to think about. More importantly, the Japanese believe that butterflies symbolize immortality.5 Robert’s soul, in a sense, lives on through his …show more content…
If his death date was 1924, Art Deco was likely in full swing.13 Since there isn’t much work credited to Robert, perhaps Pair of Gates was his end statement. Pair of Gates may be a last effort to acknowledge the life and death of the Art Nouveau movement. While Pair of Gates is beautiful from an aesthetic and compositional standpoint, the underlying message behind Pair of Gates is speaking to the change of society and life around us, whether spiritually, socially or technologically. The modernization of the world causes us to hold onto the past. However, it is paramount that we prepare for the future. It’s brilliant how Robert acknowledged both sides of the era. The conflict of the traditionals set by the Art Nouveau era pushing against Art Deco is depicted through the butterfly. The gate, without a key, is impossible to open. Robert likely never created one since he knew that he couldn’t enter the gate. The key to the world was not his, but his apprentices. Although he could visualize the new movement, and he could see where it was going, he was unable to access it. Whether it was due to being out of his prime, since he was sixty-four when he died, or wanting the next generation to take over, the gates stand for Robert’s inability to move past the age he grew up in.14 In truth, Robert passed on his judgment of the transforming times, but like