Hector Guimard Legacy. Part 2.

There’s not much known about Hector Guimard’s life, most of it remains a mystery beside that he was born in Lyon in 1867 and got his education at l’Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs and   L’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts.

As soon as they’ve got their chances to study abroad aspiring  architects eagerly rushed to Italy to study antique ruins and classic marvels of Renaissance and Baroque without which the architectural education wouldn’t be considered complete.

When young Guimard won his bursary award he rushed as quickly in the opposite direction to Belgium, England and Scotland to study modern architecture and trends to see for himself the design experiments by young and talented architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Guimard had no intention to follow tradition, even at school he had a nickname of rebel. And while the tradition called to derive the inspiration from the past  Guimard felt another calling: modernity ideas, innovative materials and forms, metal and glass and for that matter the accessibility of elegant style and design. Influenced by the ideas of Viollet-le-Duc of finding the ideal forms for specific materials he was stepping on his path of architectural innovations.

  This is the entrance hall of Castel Beranger shot through the gate. It's a bit blurry as I had to zoom in on max and there wasn't enough light  but elaborate ironwork, floor tiles and stained glass are so beautiful. An art Nouveau masterpiece.

The Castel Beranger gate is an iconic masterpiece included in every Art Nouveau book.

Look at these calligraphic lines. There's no such thing as a small or unimportant detail  for Art Nouveau artist. Every stroke is meaningful even a grill on a side window.

A few dragons on a side and sleeping lions are pretty friendly non ferocious beasts.

To get a clean shot one should try in winter when trees aren't obstructing a view.

The side view of Castel Beranger apartment complex.  I'm wondering how does it look inside? 
Notice the stained glass in windows.

Pastel green, brick and stone texture, curvaceous lines.

The inner doorway to the enclosed courtyard. Looking through the gate.

This building won for Guimard a much deserved recognition which is proudly noted on the facade and signed by the architect.

Meeting Victor Horta, the most prominent Art Nouveau architect in Brussels, seeing his works, had the most powerful impact  on Hector Guimard’s own style and life time devotion to Art Nouveau diversity and flexibility.

By that time his masterpiece Castel Beranger, a three building apartment complex in Paris 16^th Arrondissement was already under construction and Guimard reworked it to test his own ideas of complex outside/inside design, exterior/interior artistic connection. He designed wall panels, wall paper, mantels, furniture, lighting, window glass staining as well as ceramics and miscellaneous decorative artifacts up to the door handles to create the whole new experience for a modern dwelling. 

As an architect, engineer, designer and decorator striving for stylistic harmony he could successfully play any instrument, be a conductor and soloist in this creative orchestra. 

This work of 1895-1898 was highly praised and right after that Guimard got his Metro entrances commission in 1899 which made him immortal.

Hotel Guimard, 1909. In this house Hector Guimard and his wife Adeline lived  for almost 30 years. It could be Museum Guimard, but helas...

In 1909, at the age of 41, Gimard married Adeline Oppenheim, a New Yorker from a wealthy Jewish family, who studied painting in Paris. And they lived happily ever after in the Hotel Guimard, a wedding present built by Guimard on Mozart Avenue, the most unconventional house in the 16^th Arrondissement. 

There were a few more prosperous years before WWI when Art Nouveau rapidly faded giving way to Art Deco and various Constructivism ideas.

The discrete initials HG above the ornamented door. Elegant wrought iron balconies.

Guimard tried to adapt taking on industrial projects. But by 1930s  he was out of vogue and his talents not in demand. 

In 1938 at the onset of anti-Semitism and WWII a couple fled to New York and settled at the Upper East side. In 1942 one of the most distinguished French architects Hector Guimard largely ignored and forgotten in his homeland died in New York.

Hotel Mezzara , 1911. Not open for the public but judging from books it has a fantastic hall on the ground floor with skylight ceiling and galleries. 

Balcony and door. Hotel Mezzara, 1911. 

Notice the details and surface textures.

After the war in 1949 his widow made all gracious efforts to donate Hotel Guimard to France to open a Guimard Museum in Paris as it was proudly done in Belgium where Victor Horta’s home became a museum in Brussels.

Regretfully her generosity wasn’t met positively and didn't find a support. Simply speaking the gift was refused and the house was sold and the interior was divided into apartments.

It’s an apartment building now available for rent.

Whatever could be removed  was auctioned and only a few things, including hand carved wood paneling and content of la salle a manger, ended up in Musee d’Orsay much later when his name was rediscovered. But reconstructed as a vignette it looks as a fragment of the beautiful wing which once belonged to an exotic and rich colored butterfly.

Otherwise the priceless collection and archives moved overseas.

The ensemble of each room and a house as a whole, the unification of all the elements of the building was very important for the architect’s vision and Madame Guimard devoted another 23 years of her life to commemorate the legacy of her great husband donating his work to various US museums and collections.

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of Hector Guimard's legacy.
To be continued.

And have a wonderful weekend my dear friends.

*All images copyright Natalie Rapoport.

Le Style Guimard . Part 1.

Whenever someone thinks of Paris or tries to imagine, a few hallmarks inevitably come up to the mind: Tour Eiffel,  Notre Dame, Café, Metro. Then shortly come balconies, street lights, river banks and bridges, and then miscellaneous things that make Paris yours  if only for a moment.

These familiar staples sketched in the memories, glimpsed in the corner of the vintage postcard, or blurred in the background of an old photo immediately whisper Pa-ris …

That’s the instant power of the image over the words.

 If you've ever been to Paris you won't forget Metro, it's exotic jewel like entrances. I love the elegant inscription : Metropolitain, not a subway, sub or tube.

L'architecte d'art  Hector Guimard is best of all known as  the creator of Le Style Metro for those Parisian metro entrances built in 1900  for the World Fair.

Style Guimard made him immortal. He was one of the most prominent architects  and the gate keeper of this highly influential and sharply declined Art Nouveau style flourished in France and throughout the world somewhat between 1895-1914. Not all of his masterpieces survived. Several were demolished in his life time like the beautiful concert hall Salle Humbert de Romans  among others. Many metro entrances were removed much later. (One found a new home in the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art in Washington as a sample of style, the other serves the purpose in Montreal metro station).

Strangely enough not much is known about his life. The only thing is certain: as much as he was a talented master devoted to a style he invented and developed along with Victor Horta in Belgium and a handful of other distinguished artists and architects , he probably wasn’t  much of a promoter and businessman. In other words his networking as we call it today in finding wealthy clients capable to fully appreciate and support Guimard’s artistic aspirations wasn’t strong enough to bring him noteworthy commissions. He was too ahead of a time and though he rose to a much deserved glory after building Castel Beranger  and winning the commission for metro entrances, he was fiercely criticized at the same time. Even the famous lettering of Metropolitain was much mocked for being too ornate, illegible and pretentious before it became recognized all over the world (needless to remind that Tour Eiffel  also was ostracized at the very same time and called disgrace and a colossal monster. Nevertheless…)

What Guimard created was innovative indeed. He introduced public to five different kinds of  modular entrances made of cast iron and glass. Some on narrow streets were given only ornate railing, some were more elaborate with glass canopy, called dragonfly wings, as on Place d’Abbesses, the other  looked as a small and elegant pavilion like the one on Porte Dauphine station. Most of them with distinctive flower stems arched over Metropolitain signature. Once the elaborate floral motives were masterfully designed they were easy to reproduce. 

New materials and cost effectiveness  along with a progressively modern look and elegant artistism won over heavy baroque-style tradition  proposed by Charles Garnier  the president of  the Architects Society at the time, who envisioned mini Grand Opera at every metro entrance.

Hector Guimard  unknowingly autographed every corner and square of his beloved city. And for over the hundred years his signage welcomes you to Paris…

To be continued...

*All images Copyright Natalie Rapoport

16th Arrondissement

The highlight attractions are frequented and besieged by tourists as if their main purpose is to deliver the instant image, to remind the visitors put a check mark in a guide book: what can you do if you have 1,2,3 days in Paris...

Then comes the question: what would you like to do if you have….as much or  as little time in Paris?

This time I’ve decided definitely to avoid long lines, navigate away from crowds, take it slooooowly, waaaaalk, enjoy and take the lunch time seriously.

That means keep in mind an itinerary as a mere suggestion. With pausing, shooting, stopping and taking ice cream breaks it’s only an outline, a slight gesture towards a certain direction. Let’s say 16-e arrondissement.

The Art Nouveau treasures by Hector Guimard are mainly scattered throughout this elite residential neighborhood that’s what I wanted mostly to see but couldn’t help  to admire all this grandeur and leafy perspectives proudly stretched out. Wrought iron balconies, excessive ornamenting, rotondes and coupoles, Art Nouveau fluid lines and Art Deco geometry, elaborate gates and fences, creamy cakes over the roof tops and beautiful edifices. Architecturally delicious if only sometimes too sweet.

So Guimard series are coming in next posts and this is just a pretext, a glimpse to surroundings.

One of many interesting things I love about Paris is that all arrondissments are very distinctive in character. The 16-th is very aristocratic and displays probably the most expensive and sought after property dated mostly fin de siècle.

What a beautiful triangle formed by Avenue Mozart and Avenue de La Fontaine. Far from high season frenzy, quiet, with very mild traffic, lush green with the parade of  well maintained elegant buildings, hidden gems and gated villas for wealthy. Seems like a natural habitat for haute couture clientele.

In fact there were very few pedestrians at all and occasional residents looked at me and where I was aiming camera with curiosity. Of course, they used to surroundings to the point of not noticing.

This part of the city between Trocadero and Bois de Boulogne is often referred as Parisian Upper East Side: straight-laced, uptight, buttoned up – polished and impeccable. But not as imperial as Avenue Foch.

No big stores just  a few exquisite boutiques (closed for August), beauty salons, traditional  patisseries, few cafes,  wonderful Marmottan museum underrated and overlooked by tourists, parks and hidden green corners.

Sparkling golden plates on buzz panels at ornate entrances inform you of businesses inside: lawyers and gynecologists the most common tandems, the buttons of latter are shined better. Therapists and physicians are ranked below. The ratio of doctors and lawyers is amazing.

My son was very excited about these toys on wheels and mastered a collection of these cute puppy cars.

And just  as I promised to my small team not to miss lunch and remembering that one won’t get any  after 2-3pm we stopped at the corner of Avenue  Mozart and Rue de l’Assomption at Bo Zinc. A very nice place as you can see. 

The meal was delicious and portions generous. Prices were very reasonable and the staff welcoming which was a bonus. The waitress wasn’t tired of tourists and even smiled back and service was fast and friendly. Not to mention a delicious dessert. Definitely would recommend it as a lunch stop if you happen to be in a neighborhood.

The happy and adorable residents of the 16th arrondissement.

See you soon my friends.

*All images Copyright Natalie Rapoport