Hector Guimard was born 156 years ago in Lyon. Looking Up Paris invites you to revisit the Parisian journey of the architect, a major representative of Art Nouveau in the capital. This artistic movement, which emerged in Europe at the end of the 19th century and ended with the First World War, never really made an impact in France on the architecture of official buildings, but nevertheless left its mark on the ornamentation and statuary of prominent turn-of-the-century sites such as the Grand and Petit Palais. Trained at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Hector Guimard strove throughout his career to develop a personal vision of architecture, a style that he defined as being based on three principles: "logic, harmony, feeling" and which was inspired by Viollet le Duc's theory of "functionalism". Very early on, the use of iron and cast iron, the rejection of historicist academicism and the choice of the Gothic style as an example of rational and functional architecture were the basis of his model.
Hector Guimard's conversion to Art Nouveau occurred in the years 1894-95: turning away from the traditional sojourn in Rome, he set off for England, Ireland, Holland and Belgium. The picturesque style of English cottages started to appear in his sketches. But the deciding factor, which would influence his style for the rest of his career, was his meeting with architect Victor Horta and the discovery of the Hotel Tassel (1892-93) in Brussels, a founding work of Art Nouveau in architecture. He then introduced the aesthetics of the curved line into all his work, starting with his project of the moment, the Castel Béranger, an apartment building located at 14 rue Jean de la Fontaine in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. This is why the geometric volumes of medieval inspiration of the main structure, inherited from the theories of Viollet Le Duc - and which can be seen on the facade of his previous building, the Hotel Jassedé (1893) at 41 rue Chardon Lagache - are profusely mixed with the organic "whiplash" line imported from Belgium. Like Horta at the Hotel Tassel, Guimard also designed the minute details of the exterior decoration (masks for the balustrades and cast iron seahorses, enamelled ceramic cats, stained glass windows, ...) and interior (floor mats, wallpapers, linoleum panelling, stair railings, door handles, flamed stoneware panels, ...) to produce a comprehensive work of art. All this is presented in an Album, containing 65 boards, published in 1898. Even though the Castel Béranger was not unanimously acclaimed by its contemporaries - some nicknamed it the "Deranged Castel" - the building made its creator famous overnight and won a prize in the City of Paris's first facade competition in 1898.
Although his fame was still primarily French at the time, it was to become universal in the years that followed, since from 1900 to 1903, Hector Guimard designed the first Paris metro station entrances (3 more or less complex models, 167 entrances built from 1900 to 1913), which are both associated with the world image of the French capital and essential witnesses of the Art Nouveau style. You will find iron, cast iron, glass and enamelled lava for the materials, organic curves for the lines. And as usual, the architect has skilfully combined the functional and the aesthetic, art and industry, thereby permitting standardisation, keeping costs down and easing installation. But the decline of Art Nouveau was on the horizon, and many of the original entrances were abandoned or destroyed. It was not until the 1970s that their aesthetic and historical significance was recognised and they were restored and protected as historical landmarks.
From 1909 onwards, Hector Guimard also continued to develop his vision and returned to private architecture with a "softened" style, a simple and peaceful vertical movement, and a more discreet and pared-down ornamental repertoire. Following his marriage that same year to the American painter Adeline Oppenheim, he designed, right down to the last detail of the furniture, the Hotel Guimard at 122 Avenue Mozart, which was the couple's residence until 1926. Although the buildings constructed during this period (the last one was completed in 1928) in the Auteuil neighbourhood show a tendency towards symmetrical apertures and an emphasis on vertical lines, the curved forms around the windows, the rounded shapes of the bow windows and the stepped roofs impart a sense of movement that enlivens the facade. This is most visible in the building at 18 rue Henri Heine, where the couple moved in 1926 on the third floor. There would be their last place of residence in Paris, before they left for New York in 1938, where Hector Guimard, very frail, would die in 1942.
After the war, Adeline Guimard donated a great deal of the drawings and models, furniture and objects designed by her husband to various Parisian museums, and they can now be seen at the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée des Arts décoratifs, the Petit Palais, and the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine.
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