Charles l'Eplattenier
Charles L'Éplattenier (1874–1946) was a Swiss painter and architect. [1] [2] A contemporary and associate of René Chapallaz, Léon Gallet, and Le Corbusier, L'Éplattenier is considered one of the foremost exponents of Swiss Art Nouveau [3] despite working almost exclusively in the town of La Chaux de Fonds, where from 1897 he taught at the school of decorative arts. He taught the architect Le Corbusier. It is possible that Le Corbusier was influenced in his choice of pseudonym by the name of his teacher. At the time La Chaux-de-Fonds was developing into one of the leading centres of the Swiss watch industry. Increasing prosperity created a large demand for property and art in the style of the time among the wealthy citizens of the city. L'Éplattenier and his students developed a local form of Art Nouveau known as style sapin ("pine style") after a frequently recurring motif. Style sapin is characterised by an intensive study of nature and the artistic s...
