Jean Perzel Biography
Jean Perzel, born in 1892 in Bruck (now Fürstenfeldbruck), a town in Bavaria, is the son and grandson of a glassmaker. After following the traditional apprenticeship of a master glassmaker in Munich, he graduated at the top of his class at the age of 16. He subsequently embarked on a walking journey across Europe, crossing Austria, Bohemia, Switzerland, northern Italy and finally France, working in the workshops of master glassmakers and learning the different age-old techniques. In 1910, at the age of 18, he arrived in Paris and worked for a master glassmaker, thus perfecting his craft. A year later, in 1911, he went to Algiers where he was entrusted with the direction of an order. Returning in 1914, coinciding with the outbreak of war, he enlisted in the Foreign Legion, reaching the rank of corporal. After five years, in 1919, he was discharged and obtained French citizenship (officialized on 7 April 1925). He then resumed his work as an art glassmaker, joining the Parisian workshop of Jacques Grüber from 1919 to 1922. During that time, Jean Perzel adapted the techniques used in creating stained glass to electric lighting, which was beginning to spread into daily life. He made his first lamps by treating electricity as glassmakers of the past treated sunlight, hiding the light source while using its rays. In an aesthetic and technical research, Jean Perzel eliminated everything that candles, oil lamps, kerosene or gas still imposed on the eye. He furthered his study of lighting and founded his company, the Jean Perzel Laboratory, in 1923. His research focused on amplifying the intensity and quality of lighting, diffusing light evenly without dazzling. He was interested in materials that allowed light to pass through, such as pearlized and frosted glass. His creations combine glass and metal frames in a modernist style based on the elegance and purity of forms. Jean Perzel was a pioneer in the field of modern lighting and left his mark in the history of decorative arts. Some of his lights are exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
