Juliette Billard, (born 17 February 1889 in Rouen and died there 7 October 1975), was a French architect, watercolorist and designer. In 1914, she became the first woman admitted to the National School of Fine Arts.

Life and work

Juliette Billard was born in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, France, on rue Socrate, to the painter Rubens Hippolyte and the seamstress Joséphine Victoire Queval. She took courses at the Rouen School of Fine Arts under the direction of Victorien Lelong, Georges Ruel and Philippe Zacharie. She was the first woman to be admitted to the National School of Fine Arts in 1914 and graduated in 1920–1921. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, she took part in the competition for the creation of the Rouen war memorial. Her project was not selected but she received Third Prize. From 1928 to 1932, she worked in the office of architect Pierre Chirol.

Roger Goupillières Roger Goupillières (22 September 1896 - 20 December 1988) was a French film director and screenwriter.Société des Cinéromans The Société des Cinéromans was a French film production company of the silent movie era. History In 1919, Gaston Leroux founded the Société des Cinéromans in Nice with René Navarre and Arthur Bernède to publish novels and turn them into f ...

at the

Joinville Studios The Joinville Studios were a film studio in Paris which operated between 1910 and 1987. They were one of the leading French studios, with major companies such as Pathé and Gaumont Film Company, Gaumont making films there. A second studio was a ...

where she created the sets for the films ''L'Ouest'', ''

L'Argent ("Money") is the eighteenth novel in the '' Rougon-Macquart'' series by Émile Zola. It was serialized in the periodical '' Gil Blas'' beginning in November 1890 before being published in novel form by Charpentier et Fasquelle in March 1891. T ...

'' in 1928 by

Marcel L'Herbier Marcel L'Herbier (; 23 April 1888 – 26 November 1979) was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued unti ...

, and '' Figaro'' in 1929.Paul Girardeau, ''Mlle Juliette Billard, la première femme architecte de France, qui fut aussi décorateur de cinéma'', Rouen Gazette, no 511, 7 July 1934, p. 2-3 (in French) Billard participated in drawing exhibitions in Rouen in 1932 and 1937, as well as in exhibitions of the Society of Rouen Artists and the Norman Society of Applied Arts. Thanks to her relationships with the publisher Pierre-René Wolf and the director of the municipal library Henri Labrosse, she was finally able to make a living from her art. She became a decorator for the city of

and illustrated the city's guestbook from 1936 to 1969. Teacher at the Rouen School of Fine Arts from 1937 to 1954, students created panels and banners for the 5th centenary of the death of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

in 1931. In 1934, she was appointed an officer of the ''

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

''. She chaired the Aide Artistique, which was founded in 1937. Her work was exhibited at the Legrip Gallery in Rouen in June 1937. She lived at number 75 rue d'Amiens in Rouen. Her work was shown at the exhibitions of the Society of Norman Artists in 1937 and 1950 and at the Salon of Norman Independent Artists in Rouen in 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1973. Juliette Billard died on 7 October 1975 in Rouen at the Compassion retirement home on Rue d'école. She is buried in the city's Northern Cemetery.

Tributes

* A place in Rouen bears her name at the crossroads of rue de Joyeuse and rue du Maulévrier, in accordance with a deliberation on 11 July 2016. * A commemorative plaque was placed at her former home on 75 rue d'Amiens near the Rouen town hall on 19 November 2022.

Distinctions

* Academy Officer (1934), ''

''. The medal was presented to her by Rouen mayor Georges Métayer.

References

External links

* Conference - Juliette Billard and women's access to architectural studie

* Interview with Juliette BILLARD (in French

* Sample artwork by BILLAR

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billard, Juliette 1889 births 1975 deaths French architects French women architects Architects from Rouen 20th-century French architects 20th-century French painters 20th-century French women artists 20th-century French artists