Born on June 14th, 1878 in Charpentry, died in Rhemes on November 14th 1946. Jean Goulden was a Doctor of Medicine, painter and designer particularly known for his splendid enamels. He was first married with Sybille Bullock-Haal, and later in 1925 with Dolly Schmied a daughter of the well-known painter Francois-Louis Schmied (1873-1941) with whom he collaborated during his artistic career. He also worked closely with the artists Jean Dunand and Paul Jouve.
During the Great War, Jean Goulden was a Major in the Eastern Army Corps, stationed in Thessaloniki and later he moved in the Dardanelles. He made several drawings and watercolors from the Macedonian region, mainly inspired by the local architecture and ethnicities. One example s his drawing “ Maison a encorbellement en Macedoine” , sold by the auction house Tayan , Paris France on May 28th 2002 (lot number 49). The works of Goulden’s Macedonian War period were later printed by Francois-Louis Schmied (in total 18 views of Thessaloniki, 7 views of Macedonian valley and 17 views of Mount Athos) in a book called “Salonique La Macedoine L’Athos” published in 1922. One rare sample of this book (it is an edition of only 70 samples) was sold by the auction house Sotheby’s London, UK on 9 September 2003 for 7200 pounds.
The major influence into his artistic career was his stay with the monks of Mount Athos where he discovered the Byzantine style enamels. The way of making enamels remained his main style in his further career.