Chauves-souris et pavots, tenture. Papillons et campanules, papier peint. 1897

This is a wallpaper and fabric design by Maurice Pillard Verneuil, likely made in France during the Art Nouveau period. Verneuil seems to be challenging the conventions of this aesthetic movement. Instead of idealized images of nature, he incorporates bats, creatures often associated with darkness. The Art Nouveau style, with its sinuous lines and natural motifs, became popular at the turn of the 20th century and was often commissioned by institutions. Verneuil’s choice of bats might be read as a critique of this institutionalization. Are the bats a comment on the darker aspects of modernity and the bourgeoisie? Or maybe he is nodding to the popularity of the gothic at the time. By examining Verneuil's designs alongside the period’s art criticism and design manifestos, we can better understand its place in the cultural landscape of its time. Art is not made in a vacuum, but responds to specific social and institutional contexts.