Hector Guimard was born in 1867 in Lyon and trained mainly as an architect in Paris. Known for his famous Parisian subway entrances, the architect designer also created many movable pieces.
For Guimard, “the decorative base is no longer the leaf or the flower but the stem, quite simply”, as he himself wrote. It is therefore with simplicity and inventiveness that the decorator allows the naturalist theme of Art Nouveau to blossom throughout his work. Subjected to the contradictions of the movement of this period, Guimard managed to overcome the difficulties of these movements by establishing his own recognizable style.
The artist establishes a true reflection on architecture. In his eyes, any architectural construction must respond to three main principles: the logic of the construction with the surrounding circumstances, the harmony between the different architectural elements, and the feeling that must crown these two constants.
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Although the post-war period was not prosperous for Guimard, his work today enjoys wide recognition and a few rare pieces of furniture find their place on the art market. Our auctions regularly present cast iron pieces edited by the St Dizier foundry such as planters, benches, subway plates, lighting fixtures…and much more rarely pieces of furniture which remain extremely rare on the market.
