Hector Guimard

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Hector Guimard was born in Lyon on 10 March 1867. His father was an orthopedist and his mother a linen maid. He studied at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs, receiving his diploma on 17 March 1887, then enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts. In the summer of 1895, he met Belgian architect Victor Horta in Brussels and saw the sinuous vegetal and floral lines of the Hôtel Tassel, one of the earliest Art Nouveau houses. Guimard arranged for Horta to exhibit at the January 1896 Paris Salon, and his own style began to change. His first recognized major work was the Castel Béranger (1895–1898), an apartment building with 36 units at 14 rue Jean de la Fontaine, Paris. He persuaded his client to abandon a restrained design for a modern style similar to Horta's. The lobby resembled an undersea grotto with sinuous vine-like cast iron and colorful ceramics. He designed every detail, including wallpaper, rain spouts and door handles, and added a telephone booth. In 1899 it was selected as one of six winners of the first Concours de façades de la ville de Paris, a fact he had inscribed on the facade. Between 1890 and 1930, Guimard designed and built some 50 buildings, in addition to 141 subway entrances for the Paris Métro, as well as numerous pieces of furniture and other decorative works. His Métro entrances were commissioned on 12 January 1900, just months before the system opened. He made two designs of edicules, Type A and B, both of cast iron frames with cream-colored walls and glass roofs. Only one B type remains in its original location, at Porte Dauphine. He also built the Maison Coilliot in Lille (1898–1900), La Bluette in Hermanville-sur-Mer, Castel Henriette in Sèvres, and a short-lived concert hall, the Salle Humbert-de-Romans, completed in 1901 and demolished in 1905.

Reader's Guide

Hector Guimard's significance lies in his role as a leading figure of the Art Nouveau movement in France, particularly through his iconic Paris Métro entrances. Between 1890 and 1930, he designed some 50 buildings and 141 subway entrances, as well as numerous furniture and other decorative works. However, in the 1910s Art Nouveau went out of fashion and by the 1960s most of his works had been demolished, and only two of his original Métro édicules were still in place. Guimard's critical reputation revived in the 1960s, in part due to subsequent acquisitions of his work by the Museum of Modern Art, and art historians have noted the originality and importance of his architectural and decorative works. Guimard was a disciple of Viollet-le-Duc. His legacy is marked by the survival of a few key structures, such as the Castel Béranger and some Métro entrances, which continue to exemplify the Art Nouveau style.

Did You Know?

• Guimard's father was an orthopedist and his mother a linen maid; they married on 22 June 1867, after Hector was born.
• He received his diploma from the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs on 17 March 1887.
• The Castel Béranger was selected as one of six winners of the first Concours de façades de la ville de Paris in March 1899.
• Only two of Guimard's original Métro édicules were still in place by the 1960s.
• The Salle Humbert-de-Romans concert hall was completed in 1901 and demolished in 1905.