Auguste Labouret was born on March 20, 1871, in Laon. A former student of the National School of Fine Arts, he has been practicing his craft as a master glassmaker and mosaicist for fifty-five years.
He has been a member of the Salon d'Automne since its founding and the Society of Decorative Artists since 1912, participating in all their events and exhibitions in Milan, Antwerp, Liège, Brussels, Rome, Philadelphia, New York, Buenos Aires, etc. He was hors concours at the International Exhibition of 1925, president of class 40 (stained glass) in 1937, and a laureate of the Société Centrale d'Architecture (Sédille prize). Labouret also won the first prize in the competition for Illuminated Fountains in Barcelona. He is currently the president of the General Syndicate of Glass and Art Glassmakers of France, and a former president of the Trade Union of Master Glassmakers. Moreover, he served as vice-president of the jury at the School of Trades and as a member of the jury at the National Labor Exhibition and the School of Applied Arts for Industry.
Auguste Labouret, who has restored ancient stained glass windows of numerous historical monuments, is also the creator of stained glass mosaics made from cemented partitioned glass tiles. In this capacity, he executed a large stained glass window of Saint Christopher for the 1937 Exhibition and created stained glass windows for chapels, including those in Poitiers and Canada. In Canada, he completed glass ensembles for the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Cathedral near Quebec. He has also crafted numerous mosaic coverings, including the floor of the Paris Tourism Office, the entire wall and light decoration of the dining room on the Normandie (a ship), and high luminaires for the Saint-Odile church. Auguste Labouret has been a Knight of the Legion of Honor since 1937.
A passionate researcher in both the fields of stained glass and mosaics (is not stained glass a translucent mosaic?), Auguste Labouret does not merely execute significant commissions, but also strives to multiply the modes of expression of his chosen materials, glass, and marble, through constant experiments and technical innovations. After restoring ancient stained glass windows for many years, he came up with the idea of using thick glass slabs of different colors, juxtaposed and held together within a cement matrix poured onto a metal framework. By cutting the glass with a "marteline" (a traditional hammer adopted by the Greeks and Romans for mosaics), he achieved a colored transparency contrasting with the constructive opacity of the cement. His stained glass windows are of great expressive power and are sturdy enough to withstand the test of time.
In the same way, for mosaics, Labouret delved into in-depth knowledge of ancient techniques, reviving certain neglected methods, such as using granito-marble with copper or aluminum expansion joints for floor coverings.
With no limits other than those of his imagination and his unquenchable desire to invent, he draws inspiration from both the cellar and the attic, as well as from formal official rooms, seeking to create - a paradoxical endeavor - without adhering to strict principles - orders and furniture that have a chance not to become outdated and to endure over time.
For some of his wall mosaics, he has occasionally used small marble elements, embedded in relief in the cement and then shaped with the hammer, which give a tactile and effective sensitivity to the material, especially for large figures of Christ. The work of Auguste Labouret, abundant, diverse, teeming with technical innovations in service of tireless creative imagination, continues, especially in Canada, where he is entrusted with decorating major religious buildings.
