Hector Guimard

Lore & Background

Hector Guimard was born in Lyon on 10 March 1867. His father was an orthopedist and gymnastics teacher, and his mother a linen maid. He studied at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs and later at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied architecture. He began teaching drawing and perspective in 1891, a post he held until July 1900. In 1895, after a funded voyage to England, Scotland, the Netherlands, and Belgium, he met Belgian architect Victor Horta in Brussels and saw the Hôtel Tassel, which influenced his style.

Guimard's first recognized major work was the Castel Béranger, an apartment building with 36 units constructed between 1895 and 1898. He designed every detail, including wallpaper and door handles, and added a telephone booth. In 1899 it was selected as one of the six winners in a Paris competition for best new building façades. Between 1898 and 1900 he built three houses simultaneously, including the Maison Coilliot in Lille, and later the Castel Henriette in Sèvres, which had a watchtower that fell in 1903. He also designed the Salle Humbert-de-Romans concert hall, completed in 1901 but demolished in 1905.

Guimard is best known for the Paris Métro entrances. In January 1900, just months before the system opened, he was commissioned to design entrances made of iron and glass, after earlier proposals were ridiculed. He designed 141 subway entrances for the Paris Métro. However, by the 1910s Art Nouveau went out of fashion, and by the 1960s most of his works had been demolished, with only two original Métro édicules still in place.

Reader's Guide

Hector Guimard's significance lies in his role as a leading figure of the Art Nouveau movement in France. His design for the Castel Béranger established him as an innovator, and his Paris Métro entrances became iconic symbols of the city. Between 1890 and 1930, he designed and built some 50 buildings and 141 subway entrances, as well as furniture and decorative works. However, Art Nouveau fell out of fashion in the 1910s, and by the 1960s most of his works had been demolished. His critical reputation revived in the 1960s, in part due to subsequent acquisitions of his work by the Museum of Modern Art. 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 a reminder of the fleeting nature of architectural fashion and the eventual recognition of innovative design.

Did You Know?

• Guimard was a disciple of Viollet-le-Duc.
• He designed 141 subway entrances for the Paris Métro.
• By the 1960s, only two of his original Métro édicules were still in place.
• His Castel Henriette had a watchtower that fell in 1903, apparently after being struck by lightning.