Hector Guimard
Encyclopedia
Hector Guimard was an architect, who is now the best-known representative of the French Art Nouveau
style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Guimard's critical reputation has risen since the 1960s, as many art historians have praised his architectural and decorative work, the best of it done during a relatively brief fifteen years of prolific creative activity.
in Paris
from 1882 to 1885, where he became acquainted with the theories of Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc
. These rationalist ideas provided the basis for the principles of Art Nouveau
. Some say that Guimard became devoted to this style when he visited the Hôtel Tassel
in Brussels
, designed by Victor Horta
, however of a very different style.
In 1898, he designed the Castel Béranger, which displays a tension between a medieval sense of geometrical volume, and the organic "whiplash" lines Guimard saw in Brussels.
If the skylights favored by Victor Horta
are rather absent in his work (except in his 1910 Mezzara Hotel), Guimard made noteworthy experiments in space and volume. Some of these include the Coilliot house and its disconcerting double-frontage (1898), La Bluette
and its beautiful volumetric harmony (1898), and especially the Castel Henriette (1899) and the Castel d’Orgeval (1905), radical demonstrations of a vigorous and asymmetrical "free plan", twenty-five years before the theories of Le Corbusier
. But other buildings of his, like the splendid Nozal Hotel, (1905), employ a rational, symmetrical, square-based style like that of Viollet-le-Duc
.
Guimard also employed some structural innovations, as in the extraordinary concert hall Humbert-de-Romans (1901), where a complex frame divides sound waves resulting in perfect acoustics, or as in the Hôtel Guimard (1909), where the ground was too narrow to have the exterior walls bear any weight, and thus the arrangement of interior spaces differ from one floor to another.
The curious, inventive Guimard was also a precursor of industrial standardization, insofar as he wished to diffuse the new art on a large scale. His greatest success here – in spite of some scandals – was his famous entrances to the Paris Metro
, based on the ornamented structures of Viollet-le-Duc
. The idea is taken up – but with less success – in 1907 with a catalogue of cast iron elements applicable to buildings : Artistic Cast Iron, Guimard Style.
Guimard's art objects have the same formal continuity as his buildings, harmoniously uniting practical function with linear design, as in the Vase des Binelles, of 1903) or this sketch of his furniture.
His inimitable stylistic vocabulary suggests plants and organic matter, while remaining abstract. Flexible mouldings and a sense of movement are found in stone as well as wood carvings. Guimard created abstract two-dimensional patterns that were used for stained glass (Mezzara hotel, 1910), ceramic panels (Coilliot house, 1898), wrought iron (Castel Henriette, 1899), wallpaper (Castel Béranger, 1898) or fabric (Guimard hotel, 1909).
Despite of Guimard's innovations and talent, the press soon tired of him—not so much with his work, but his personality. His relationship with the clergyman who commissioned him to build the Humbert de Romans Concert Hall (arguably the most complete expression of his Art Nouveau style) became acrimonious by the time of its completion in 1901, and the clergyman left France. Within five years the magnificent concert venue was demolished; it is now only known by photographs and articles from art journals. A large number of his Paris Métro
station entrances, including all of the large pavilions such as the one at Bastille
, were demolished. The only full, roofed enclosures left are the original one at Porte Dauphine
and the reconstructed ones at Abbesses
and Châtelet
, although many of the fenced entrances remain or have been rebuilt.
Guimard's work is itself victim of inherent contradictions of the ideals of the Art Nouveau style: his best creations remained unaffordable to the general public, and his attempts at standardization of materials, parts, and measures never could keep pace with his stylistic changes. Guimard's fear of war and the Nazi Party's anti-Semitism (his wife was Jewish) forced him into exile, and he was largely forgotten when he died in New York during 1942.
at Columbia University
in New York City.
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Guimard's critical reputation has risen since the 1960s, as many art historians have praised his architectural and decorative work, the best of it done during a relatively brief fifteen years of prolific creative activity.
Years of study
Like many other French nineteenth-century architects, Guimard attended the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifsÉcole nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
The École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs is a public university of art and design and is one of the most prestigious French grande école...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
from 1882 to 1885, where he became acquainted with the theories of Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. Born in Paris, he was a major Gothic Revival architect.-Early years:...
. These rationalist ideas provided the basis for the principles of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
. Some say that Guimard became devoted to this style when he visited the Hôtel Tassel
Hôtel Tassel
The Hotel Tassel is a town house built by Victor Horta in Brussels for the Belgian scientist and professor Emile Tassel in 1893-1894. It is generally considered as the first true Art Nouveau building, because of its highly innovative plan and its ground breaking use of materials and decoration...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, designed by Victor Horta
Victor Horta
Victor, Baron Horta was a Belgian architect and designer. John Julius Norwich described him as "undoubtedly the key European Art Nouveau architect." Indeed, Horta is one of the most important names in Art Nouveau architecture; the construction of his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels in 1892-3 means that...
, however of a very different style.
In 1898, he designed the Castel Béranger, which displays a tension between a medieval sense of geometrical volume, and the organic "whiplash" lines Guimard saw in Brussels.
A flashing glory
The Castel Béranger made Guimard famous and he soon had many commissions. He continued working in the Art Nouveau style, especially devoted to its ideal of harmony and continuity, which caused him to design the interior decoration of his buildings as well. This culminated during 1909 with the Hotel Guimard (his wedding present to his rich American wife) where ovoid rooms contain unique pieces of furniture, which are considered integral parts of the building.If the skylights favored by Victor Horta
Victor Horta
Victor, Baron Horta was a Belgian architect and designer. John Julius Norwich described him as "undoubtedly the key European Art Nouveau architect." Indeed, Horta is one of the most important names in Art Nouveau architecture; the construction of his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels in 1892-3 means that...
are rather absent in his work (except in his 1910 Mezzara Hotel), Guimard made noteworthy experiments in space and volume. Some of these include the Coilliot house and its disconcerting double-frontage (1898), La Bluette
La Bluette
La Bluette is one of French architect Hector Guimard's existent buildings. La Bluette is a villa built in 1899 for Prosper Grivelle, a lawyer from Paris. The house is located in Hermanville-sur-Mer, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, a seaside hamlet of 2,661 in north-western France.-External links:* *...
and its beautiful volumetric harmony (1898), and especially the Castel Henriette (1899) and the Castel d’Orgeval (1905), radical demonstrations of a vigorous and asymmetrical "free plan", twenty-five years before the theories of Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
. But other buildings of his, like the splendid Nozal Hotel, (1905), employ a rational, symmetrical, square-based style like that of Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. Born in Paris, he was a major Gothic Revival architect.-Early years:...
.
Guimard also employed some structural innovations, as in the extraordinary concert hall Humbert-de-Romans (1901), where a complex frame divides sound waves resulting in perfect acoustics, or as in the Hôtel Guimard (1909), where the ground was too narrow to have the exterior walls bear any weight, and thus the arrangement of interior spaces differ from one floor to another.
The curious, inventive Guimard was also a precursor of industrial standardization, insofar as he wished to diffuse the new art on a large scale. His greatest success here – in spite of some scandals – was his famous entrances to the Paris Metro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
, based on the ornamented structures of Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. Born in Paris, he was a major Gothic Revival architect.-Early years:...
. The idea is taken up – but with less success – in 1907 with a catalogue of cast iron elements applicable to buildings : Artistic Cast Iron, Guimard Style.
Guimard's art objects have the same formal continuity as his buildings, harmoniously uniting practical function with linear design, as in the Vase des Binelles, of 1903) or this sketch of his furniture.
His inimitable stylistic vocabulary suggests plants and organic matter, while remaining abstract. Flexible mouldings and a sense of movement are found in stone as well as wood carvings. Guimard created abstract two-dimensional patterns that were used for stained glass (Mezzara hotel, 1910), ceramic panels (Coilliot house, 1898), wrought iron (Castel Henriette, 1899), wallpaper (Castel Béranger, 1898) or fabric (Guimard hotel, 1909).
Oblivion
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
station entrances, including all of the large pavilions such as the one at Bastille
Bastille (Paris Metro)
Bastille is a station on lines 1, 5 and 8 of the Paris Métro. It is located near the former location of the Bastille and remains of the Bastille can be seen on line 5. The platforms for line 1 are situated below road level but above the Basin of the Arsenal and Canal Saint Martin in a short-open...
, were demolished. The only full, roofed enclosures left are the original one at Porte Dauphine
Porte Dauphine (Paris Metro)
Porte Dauphine is a station of the Paris Métro. It is the western terminus of Line 2. Nearby, one can transfer to the RER C at Avenue Foch station...
and the reconstructed ones at Abbesses
Abbesses (Paris Metro)
Abbesses is a station on Paris Métro Line 12, in the Montmartre district and the 18th arrondissement. Abbesses is one of the few deep stations of Paris métro, at 36 metres below ground, as it is located on western side of the butte of Montmartre...
and Châtelet
Châtelet (Paris Metro)
Châtelet is a station on lines 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14 of the Paris Métro in the centre of medieval Paris and the 1st arrondissement. The station is made up of two parts connected by a long corridor:...
, although many of the fenced entrances remain or have been rebuilt.
Guimard's work is itself victim of inherent contradictions of the ideals of the Art Nouveau style: his best creations remained unaffordable to the general public, and his attempts at standardization of materials, parts, and measures never could keep pace with his stylistic changes. Guimard's fear of war and the Nazi Party's anti-Semitism (his wife was Jewish) forced him into exile, and he was largely forgotten when he died in New York during 1942.
The rediscovery
Many of Guimard's buildings were destroyed after his death, but he started to be rediscovered during the 1960s. Now, scholars have reconstructed his career and he has been the subject of much research. Still, one hundred years after what Le Corbusier termed the "magnificent gesture" of Art Nouveau, most of Guimard's buildings remain inaccessible to the public, and he has no museum devoted to him. However, original architectural drawings by Guimard are stored in the Dept. of Drawings & Archives at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts LibraryAvery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library is one of twenty-five libraries in the Columbia University Library System and is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in the City of New York. It is the largest architecture library in the world...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City.
Timeline
- 1882 Guimard enters the École des Arts Décoratifs at Paris with Charles Genuys as his teacher.
- 1885 Guimard begins studying at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.
- 1888 Café Au grand Neptune (quai d'Auteuil, 16th arrondissement de Paris).
- 1889 Guimard designs the Pavilion of Electricity at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.
- 1891 Guimard becomes professor at the École des Arts Décoratifs. He remains there until 1900.
- 1891 Designs the Hôtel Roszé (rue Boileau, 16th arrondissement of Paris)
- 1894 Designs the Hôtel Jassedé (rue Chardon-Lagache), Hôtel Delfau (rue Molitor), and the funerary chapel of Devos-Logie and Mirand-Devos in the cimetière des GonardsCimetière des GonardsThe Cimetière des Gonards began operations in 1879 on a 130,000 m² property in the wealthy Parisian suburb of Versailles, France. It is the area’s largest cemetery with more than 12,000 tombs.-Notable interments:*Marc Allégret, , film director...
at Versailles. Guimard first meets Belgian Art Nouveau architect Paul HankarPaul HankarPaul Hankar was a Belgian architect and designer who, along with Victor Horta and Henry Van de Velde, is considered one of the principal architects to work in the Art Nouveau style in Brussels at the turn of the twentieth century.-Formative Studies: Hankar was born at Frameries. He began his...
. - 1895 Builds the Atelier Carpeaux (boulevard Exelmans, Paris), and the École du Sacré Cœur. First meets Belgian Art Nouveau architect Victor HortaVictor HortaVictor, Baron Horta was a Belgian architect and designer. John Julius Norwich described him as "undoubtedly the key European Art Nouveau architect." Indeed, Horta is one of the most important names in Art Nouveau architecture; the construction of his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels in 1892-3 means that...
. Beginning of construction on the Castel Béranger (rue La-Fontaine, Paris). - 1896 La Hublotière au VésinetLe VésinetLe Vésinet is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center....
. - 1897 Guimard moves into an apartment building. Casa Coillot.
- 1898 Completion of the Castel Béranger which is called "deranged" by contemporaries.
- 1899 Villa Bluette (HermanvilleHermanville-sur-MerHermanville-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:-Sights:* 13th century church* Commonwealth war cemetery* Old village center...
, CalvadosCalvadosThe French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
). - 1900 Maison Coilliot (14, rue Fleurus, LilleLilleLille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
); design of the entrances, buildings and lettering of the stations entrance of the Paris MétropolitanParis MétroThe Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
. - 1901 Salle Humbert-de-Romans (ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
); Castel Henriette (rue des Binelles, Sèvres, Hauts-de-SeineHauts-de-SeineHauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
). - 1903 Castel Val (4, rue des Meulières, Auvers-sur-OiseAuvers-sur-OiseAuvers-sur-Oise is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is associated with several famous artists, the most prominent being Vincent van Gogh.-History:...
); Villa La Sapinière (HermanvilleHermanville-sur-MerHermanville-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:-Sights:* 13th century church* Commonwealth war cemetery* Old village center...
). - 1904 Castel Orgeval at Villemoisson-sur-OrgeVillemoisson-sur-OrgeVillemoisson-sur-Orge is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Villemoisson-sur-Orge are known as Villemoissonnais.-References:** -External links:* * *...
; Hôtel Léon Nozal (16th arrondissement of Paris); Chalet Blanc (2, rue du Lycée, SceauxSceaux, Hauts-de-SeineSceaux is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Wealth:Sceaux is famous for the Château of Sceaux, set in its large park , designed by André Le Nôtre, measuring...
); Castel Orgeval (2 avenue de la Mare-Tambour, Villemoisson-sur-Orge). - 1905 Hôtel Deron Levet, Chalet Blanc (Sceaux).
- 1909 Immeuble Trémois, rue Agar; Guimard marries Adeline Oppenheim and they move into the Hôtel Guimard on a triangular lot on the Rue Mozart, Paris.
- 1910 Hôtel Mezzara (60, rue La Fontaine, 16th arrondissement de Paris)
- 1913 Synagogue de la rue Pavée à Paris (10, rue Pavée, in the 4th arrondissement de Paris); Villa Hemsy (3, rue Crillon, Saint-Cloud).
- 1924 Villa Flore (avenue Mozart, 16th arrondissement de Paris).
- 1926 Apartment building (rue Henri Heine, Paris).
- 1928 Apartment building (rue Greuze, Paris)--this is widely believed to be Guimard's last work as an architect.
- 1938 Guimard and his wife move to New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
External links
- Le Cercle Guimard - The association for the protection and the promotion of the works of Hector Guimard
- lartnouveau.com - The work of Hector Guimard in Paris and in France
- l'Art Nouveau - Biography
- Columbia University Avery Library Collection of Drawings