The concept of gates throughout history details the idea of Heaven and Hell and private quarters while providing evocative imagery for us to contemplate. 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.1 Considering the modern and historical definitions of gates, the true meaning of the Pair of Gates is judgement of the changing art movements.
Typical of the Art Nouveau …show more content…
If his death date was 1924, Art Deco was likely in full swing.14 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 change of society and life around us. 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 are 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.15 In truth, Robert passed on his judgment of the transforming times, but like Pair of Gates, he didn’t open them to the new world. Although the butterfly’s metamorphosis is complete, the gates are closed, preserving the age he grew and flourished
Typical of the Art Nouveau …show more content…
If his death date was 1924, Art Deco was likely in full swing.14 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 change of society and life around us. 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 are 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.15 In truth, Robert passed on his judgment of the transforming times, but like Pair of Gates, he didn’t open them to the new world. Although the butterfly’s metamorphosis is complete, the gates are closed, preserving the age he grew and flourished