Gaston Redon (28 October 1853 – 20 November 1921) was a French architect, teacher, and
graphic artist
A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...
.
Biography
Redon was born in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
,
Aquitaine
Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...
, to a prosperous family, the younger brother of artist
Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French Symbolist painting, Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter.
Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, Redon worked almost exc ...
. Gaston attended the
École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
in the atelier of
Louis-Jules André, and took the
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...
for architecture in 1883. This entitled him to three years at the
French Academy in Rome
The French Academy in Rome (, ) is an academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy.
History
The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...
at the
Villa Medici in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy, from 1884 to 1887, where he met and became friends with the French composer
Claude Debussy
Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
.
After his return to Paris, Redon was made the official architect of the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
museum. The rebuilding and expansion of the
Pavillon de Marsan
The Pavillon de Marsan or Marsan Pavilion was built in the 1660s as the northern end of the Tuileries Palace in Paris, and reconstructed in the 1870s after the Tuileries burned down at the end of the Paris Commune. Following the completion of th ...
(the most northwestern wing of the palace) between 1900 and 1905 to accommodate the
Museum of Decorative Arts amounts to his major built work.
Redon was elected to the
Académie des Beaux-Arts
The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect.
Background
The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...
in May 1914, and, jointly with
Alfred-Henri Recoura, ran an architecture atelier at the Ecole. His students included French architects
Henri Marchal
Henri Marchal (June 24, 1876 – April 10, 1970) was a French architect and civil servant. He devoted a great part of his life to research on the art and archeology of Cambodia and the conservation and restoration of Khmer monuments at the arche ...
,
Roger-Henri Expert
Roger-Henri Expert (18 April 1882 – 13 April 1955) was a French architect.
Life
The son of a merchant, Expert first studied painting at the École des beaux-arts in Bordeaux, then from 1906 attended the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...
, and
Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, among others.
Works
His work includes:
* the tomb of
César Franck
César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...
,
Montparnasse Cemetery
Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...
, 1894
* the casino at
Royan
Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; ) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the Departments of France, department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the mai ...
, 1895 (destroyed 1945)
*
Museum of Decorative Arts,
Pavillon de Marsan
The Pavillon de Marsan or Marsan Pavilion was built in the 1660s as the northern end of the Tuileries Palace in Paris, and reconstructed in the 1870s after the Tuileries burned down at the end of the Paris Commune. Following the completion of th ...
,
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
, 1900–1905
See also
*
List of Académie des Beaux-Arts members: Architecture
*
List of French architects
The following is a chronological list of France, French architects. Some of their major architectural works are listed after each name.
Middle Ages
Étienne de Bonneuil (late 13th century)
* Uppsala Cathedral, Sweden
Jean de Chelles (13th c ...
Sources
online biography (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redon, Gaston
Place of death missing
1853 births
1921 deaths
19th-century French architects
19th-century French educators
19th-century French male artists
20th-century French architects
20th-century French educators
20th-century French male artists
Architects from Bordeaux
Architects from Paris
Architecture educators
Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery
École des Beaux-Arts alumni
Educators from Paris
French art educators
French expatriates in Italy
French graphic artists
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
People associated with the Louvre
Prix de Rome for architecture