Poissons volants et vagues, papier peint. Cigales et pin, papier peint. Coquilles de nautiles, bordure. 1897

Maurice Pillard Verneuil created these wallpaper designs combining naturalistic motifs like flying fish, cicadas, and shells. Verneuil was active during the Art Nouveau movement, a time when artists looked to the natural world for inspiration, but also participated in a colonial mindset that extracted resources from the natural world. The wallpaper designs reflect this complex relationship. The stylized waves and nautilus shells evoke the beauty and power of the ocean, yet they are reduced to decorative patterns, divorced from their original context. Verneuil's work creates a surface of nature, rather than engaging with it. Consider how these patterns might have adorned the homes of the bourgeoisie, papering over the social and environmental costs of their lifestyle. The wallpaper reminds us to consider the layers of meaning embedded in even the most seemingly innocent designs. It asks us to reflect on our own relationship with the natural world.