arts & life
collecting
A pair of collectors fill
their Franklin home with
the glass, prints and more
that they love.
Suzanne Chessler I Contributing Writer
Brett Mountain I Photographer
"Style Moderne: French Art Deco
Enameled Glass from the Ed & Karen
Ogul Collection" runs through Sept. 13
at the Flint Institute of Arts, 1120 E.
Kearsley St. $7 for ages 13 and older;
free for children. (810) 234-1695;
flintarts.org .
W
indows span only small
spaces along the double-
story great room in the
Franklin home of Karen and Ed Ogul.
Clear glass panes, high up in two adja-
cent corners, admit enough daylight to
accent the couple's extensive art collec-
tion.
Covering the walls are figurative
French paintings, mostly from the sec-
ond half of the 20th century. Filling
lines of long tables are colorful, enam-
eled Art Deco glassworks, functional
pieces from the 1920s and 1930s.
The collection streams started before
the home was built so rooms were
planned to give dominance to art, which
appears in forms other than the ones in
the great room.
The Oguls combine pleasure with
business as they run Paramour Fine
Arts, selling prints to other collectors,
private and public. Prints started them
off on their personal collecting adven-
tures, and travels to France enlarged
their interests.
Many professional connections have
been made as the Oguls display inven-
tories at art shows around the country.
Introductions to administrators at the
Flint Institute of Arts led to participa-
tion in museum print fairs and a current
exhibit of the couple's glass treasures.
"Style Moderne: French Art Deco
Enameled Glass from the Ed & Karen
Ogul Collection" runs through Sept. 13.
Ed spoke about the style before a gath-
ering to launch the display.
"Fifty-five pieces were picked from
our collection to show the various
uses of the glass during the time it was
made;' Ed says about the examples fea-
turing designs applied with paint added
to powdered glass.
"There are vases, plates and pendants
representing a variety of appearance
features and colors. Pieces were crafted
by about 12 different makers, the most
important of the period:'
A plate by Nicolas Platon presents
a mythological figure and is heavily
enameled to develop a dramatic com-
ponent. The glass that is not enameled
shows a wide span of orange shading.
A vase by Marcel Goupy shows a
nude woman next to a large orange cat.
Goupy, whose style ranges from figura-
tive to geometric, was the director of a
decorative-arts shop in Paris during the
1920s.
ABOVE: French Art Deco glass vases
and bonbonnieres (covered candy
dishes) crafted by Marcel Goupy, circa
1925, are displayed against the back-
drop of walls lined with prints.
A beige and blue perfume bottle
spotlights the talents of August-Claude
Heiligenstein, who was one of the most
successful enamellists of the time and
the subject of a book devoted to his
style.
"John Henry, the director of the Flint
museum, noticed the glass when he
came to our home, and about a year ago,
he sent the curator, Tracee Glab, over to
look and take pictures;' Ed recalls. "She
presented the pictures to members of
the committee in charge of exhibitions,
and they were very happy to have the
works on loan.
"This year, the museum is doing
other shows related to French art so
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