Jean-Louis Charles Garnier (; 6 November 1825 – 3 August 1898) was a French architect, perhaps best known as the architect of the Palais Garnier and the

Opéra de Monte-Carlo The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house which is part of the Monte Carlo Casino located in the Principality of Monaco. With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the Société des ba ...

Early life

Charles Garnier was born Jean-Louis Charles Garnier on 6 November 1825 in Paris, on the Rue Mouffetard, in the present-day 5th arrondissement. His father, Jean" André Garnier, 1796–1865, who was originally from

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

, a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, had worked as a blacksmith, wheelwright, and coachbuilder before settling down in Paris to work in a horse-drawn carriage rental business. He married Felicia Colle, daughter of a captain in the French Army. Later in life Garnier would all but ignore the fact that he was born of humble origins, preferring to claim Sarthe as his birthplace.

Education

Garnier became an apprentice of Louis-Hippolyte Lebas, and after that a full-time student of the École royale des Beaux-Arts de Paris, beginning during 1842. He obtained the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1848 at age twenty-three. The subject of his final examination was entitled:''"Un conservatoire des arts et métiers, avec galerie d'expositions pour les produits de l'industrie".'' He became a pensioner of the

Académie de France à Rome The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à 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 ...

from 17 January to 31 December 1849. He traveled through Greece providing him the subject of his fourth year submission, presented at the Paris Salon in 1853. He visited Greece with

Edmond About Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politician ...

and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

with

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

. He worked on the

Temple of Aphaea The Temple of Aphaia ( el, Ναός Αφαίας) or Afea is located within a sanctuary complex dedicated to the goddess Aphaia on the Greek island of Aigina, which lies in the Saronic Gulf. Formerly known as the Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, ...

Aegina Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and ...

where he insisted on polychromy. He was named in 1874 member of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute ...

in the architecture section of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

Paris Opera

On 30 December 1860 the Second Empire of Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

announced a competition for the design of a new, state-funded opera house. The old opera house, located on the and known as the

Salle Le Peletier The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier (sometimes referred to as the Salle de la rue Le Peletier or the Opéra Le Peletier) was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and con ...

, had been constructed as a temporary theatre in 1821. Street access to that theatre was greatly constricted; and after an attempted assassination of Napoleon III at the theatre's entrance on 14 January 1858, it was decided to build a new opera house with a separate, more secure entrance for the head of state. Applicants were given a month to submit entries. There were two phases to the competition, and Garnier was one of about 170 entrants in the first phase. He was awarded the fifth-place prize and was one of seven finalists selected for the second phase. The second phase required the contestants to revise their original projects and was more rigorous, with a 58-page program, written by the director of the Opéra,

Alphonse Royer Alphonse Royer, (10 September 1803 – 11 April 1875) was a French author, dramatist and theatre manager, most remembered today for having written (with his regular collaborator, Gustave Vaëz) the librettos for Gaetano Donizetti's opera ''L ...

, which the contestants received on 18 April. The new submissions were sent to the jury in the middle of May, and on 29 May Garnier's project was selected for its "rare and superior qualities in the beautiful distribution of the plans, the monumental and characteristic aspect of the facades and sections".Quoted and translated in Mead 1991, pp. 76, 290. Garnier's wife Louise later wrote that the French architect

Alphonse de Gisors Alphonse-Henri Guy de Gisors (3 September 1796 – 18 August 1866) was a 19th-century French architect, a member of the Gisors family of architects and prominent government administrators responsible for the construction and preservation of many ...

, who was on the jury, had commented to them that Garnier's project was "remarkable in its simplicity, clarity, logic, grandeur, and because of the exterior dispositions which distinguish the plan in three distinct parts—the public spaces, auditorium, and stage ... 'you have greatly improved your project since the first competition; whereas Ginain he first-place winner in the first phasehas ruined his.'" Soon the thirty-five-year-old and relatively unknown Garnier began work on the building, which eventually would be named for him, the Palais Garnier. Many people had difficulty in deciding exactly what style he was trying to portray. When asked by Empress Eugénie in what style the building was to be done, he is said to have replied: "Why Ma'am, in Napoleon Trois, and you complain!" Construction began in the summer of 1861, though setbacks would delay it for another fourteen years. During the first week of excavation, an underground stream was discovered, rendering the ground too unstable for a foundation. It required eight months for the water to be pumped out, though enough was left in the area which eventually became the fifth cellar for operating the hydraulic stage machinery above. Garnier's double-walled and bitumen-sealed cement and concrete foundation proved strong enough to withstand any possible leakages, and construction continued. The defeat of the French army by the Prussians at the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

in 1870 resulted in the end of the Second Empire. During the Siege of Paris and the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

in 1871, the unfinished Opera was used as a warehouse for goods, as well as a military prison. The opera house was finally inaugurated on 5 January 1875. Many of the most prestigious monarchs of Europe attended the opening ceremony, including the President of France's new Republic,

Marshal MacMahon Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, marquis de MacMahon, duc de Magenta (; 13 June 1808 – 17 October 1893) was a French general and politician, with the distinction of Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to ...

, the Lord Mayor of London, and King Alfonso XII of Spain. The people who entered the massive building, spanning nearly , were generally awed by its immense size and extensive ornamentation. Claude Debussy described it as resembling a railway station on the outside, and that the interior could easily be mistaken for a Turkish bath. Garnier's works represent a Neo-Baroque-inspired style, popular during the Beaux-Arts period in France. He was influenced by the Italianate styles of Renaissance artisans such as Palladio, Sansovino, and Michelangelo, perhaps the result of his many visits to Greece and Rome during his lifetime. He was also a pioneer of architectural beauty as well as function; his opera was built on a framework of metal girders, unprecedented at the time. Aside from being fireproof, steel and iron was much stronger than wood, allowing it to successfully withstand the countless heavy tons of marble and other materials heaped upon it without breaking.

Later work

In 1872 and 1873 Garnier built a vacation home on the

Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( it, Riviera ligure; lij, Rivêa lìgure) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinall ...

, the Villa Garnier in

Bordighera Bordighera (; lij, A Bordighea, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, and it is possible to see the French coast with a nak ...

. He was one of the first to build there after the arrival of the railroad in 1871 and later contributed various private and public buildings to the town until his death in 1898. Other architectural contributions include the Grand Concert Hall of the Monte Carlo Casino (1876/79–1879, since remodeled as the

) and the Salle de Jeu Trente-et-Quarante (1880–81), both on the Place du Casino in Monte-Carlo; the Nice Astronomical Observatory (1879–88); the 117 boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris (1878–80); the Hôtel Hachette, 195 boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris (1878–1881); the Panorama Marigny in Paris (1880–82);Bernard Comment:
The Panorama
', Reaktion Books, London, 2003, p. 68ff now the Marigny Theatre); and his last work, the Magasin (storehouse) de Décors de l'Opéra on the rue Berthier in Paris (1894–95; now the Ateliers Berthier of the

Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe The Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe ( en, European Music Hall) (formerly the Théâtre de l'Odéon ( en, Music Hall)) is one of France's six national theatres. It is located at 2 rue Corneille in the 6th arrondissement of Paris on the left bank ...

Death

Garnier retired from his private architectural practice in 1896, but continued to serve on juries for architectural competitions and to appear at official functions. He suffered a first stroke at 4 o'clock in the morning on 2 August 1898 while at home in Paris, and a second stroke the following evening, dying at 8 o'clock in the evening. He was interred in the Montparnasse cemetery. After his death a public monument (completed in 1902 to designs by

Jean-Louis Pascal Jean-Louis Pascal (4 June 1837 – 17 May 1920) was an academic French architect. Life Born in Paris, Pascal was taught at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts by Émile Gilbert and Charles-Auguste Questel. He won the Grand Pri ...

and crowned with a copy of the bust of Garnier, which had been created by

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (11 May 1827 – 12 October 1875) was a French sculptor and painter during the Second Empire under Napoleon III. Life Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux en ...

in 1869) was erected west of the Rotonde de l'Empereur of the Palais Garnier. The huge ornate granite pedestal was created in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

by Alexander McDonald & Co.

Works

In France

*In Paris : ** Palais Garnier (1861–1875) **Panorama Français (1880–1882; demolished) **Panorama Marigny (1880–82); remodeled 1894 as the

Théâtre Marigny The Théâtre Marigny is a theatre in Paris, situated near the junction of the Champs-Élysées and the Avenue Marigny in the 8th arrondissement. It was originally built to designs of the architect Charles Garnier for the display of a panora ...

) **The (1878–1880), 117 boulevard Saint-Germain) **Maison "Opéra" (1867–1880), a ''

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a s ...

'', 5 rue du Docteur Lancereaux **Tomb of

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...

, cimetière de Montmartre (1880) **The (1894–1898), on the boulevard of the same name, the annex of the Opéra and its fabrication workshops for decorations and storage of

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

s and

scenery Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...

. This building was his last realisation. *In Provence : **Villa Maria Serena (1882), 21 promenade Reine-Astrid,

Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...

(attributed) **The casino and thermal baths of

Vittel Vittel (; archaic ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the '' Vittel'' brand. History In 1854, after visiting the baths at nearby ...

(built 1883–1884; baths much modified after 1897; casino destroyed by fire in 1930 and replaced with a different structure) **Église Sainte-Grimonie (1886) in La Capelle **The Astronomical Observatory in Nice (1881–1888, in collaboration with the engineer

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...

)

Abroad

The information concerning Garnier's work on the

is taken from the inventory of Bouvier.Bouvier 2004. *In

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

: ** Grand Concert Hall of the Monte Carlo Casino (1876/78–1879; remodeled by Henri Schmit in 1897) ** Trente-Quarante Gaming Room of the Monte Carlo Casino (1878–1880/81; modified at the end of the 19th century, little of Garnier's work remains) *In

, Italy: ** Villa Garnier (1872–1873) ** Town hall of Bordighera (1872–1878) **Villa Bischoffsheim (1876–1879/80; now Villa Etelinda) ** Church of the Immaculate Conception or Terrasanta(1879/83–1898) **Villa Studio (1884; Garnier's studio near the Villa Garnier)

Gallery

File:Panorama Français facade design by Charles Garnier c1880 - Leniaud 2003 p72.png, Panorama Français, facade File:Panorama Français section - Durm et al 1904 p285 (cropped).png, Panorama Français, long section File:Panorama Marigny 1886 Architektonische Rundschau - Comment 1999 p67.jpg, Panorama Marigny, Paris File:Cercle de la Librairie.JPG, Cercle de la Librairie, Paris File:Ateliers Berthier 1.JPG, Ateliers Berthier, Paris File:Coupole Bischoffsheim.jpg,

Nice Observatory The Nice Observatory (french: Observatoire de Nice) is an astronomical observatory located in Nice, France on the summit of Mount Gros. The observatory was founded in 1879, by the banker Raphaël Bischoffsheim. The architect was Charles Garni ...

File:Monte Carlo Casino perspective view of the theatre facade - Croquis d'architecture 1879 - Bonillo 2004 p115.png, Monte Carlo Concert Hall, facade File:Monte Carlo Casino theatre interior 1878-79 - Leniaud 2003 p78.jpg, Monte Carlo Concert Hall, interior File:Monte Carlo Casino elevation of the Trente-Quarante Gaming Room c1880 - Bonillo 2004 p132.jpg, Trente-et-Quarante Gaming Room, Monte Carlo File:Casino de Vittel - postal card from akpool 266040.jpg, Vittel Casino File:La Capelle (Aisne) 002.jpg, Church of La Capelle File:Bordighera-chiesa dell'Immacolata Concezione o di Terrasanta (adjusted detail).jpg, Terrasanta Church, Bordighera File:Bordighera-municipio3.jpg, Town Hall, Bordighera File:Villa Garnier Bordighera - Bonillo 2004 p88.png, Villa Garnier, Bordighera Spain Palacio Recreo de las cadenas, Fundación Real Escuela Andaluza de Arte Ecuestre. Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz)

Quotations

*In 1851 alors qu'il est pensionnaire à la

Villa Médicis The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici ...

à Rome et à l'occasion d'un voyage à

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Garnier s'exclame en découvrant le

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

: ''"Il n'y a pas à choisir entre les arts, il faut être Dieu ou architecte."'' *''"Les ingénieurs ont de fréquentes occasions d'employer le fer en grandes parties, et c'est sur cette matière que plus d'un fonde l'espoir d'une architecture nouvelle. Je lui dis tout de suite, c'est là une erreur. Le fer est un moyen, ce ne sera jamais un principe."''

Notes

Bibliography

* Ayers, Andrew (2004). ''The Architecture of Paris''. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. . * Bonillo, Jean-Lucien, et al. (2004). ''Charles Garnier and Gustave Eiffel on the French and Italian Rivieras: The Dream of Reason'' (in English and French). Marseilles: Editions Imbernon. . * Bouvier, Béatrice (2004). "Inventaires" in Bonillo et al. 2004, pp. 186–205. * Bouvier, Béatrice (2003). "Catalogue" in Leniaud 2003, pp. 160 165. * * Kirkland, Stephane (2013). ''Paris Reborn: Napoléon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Quest to Build a Modern City''. New York: St Martin's Press. . * Leniaud, Jean-Michel (2003). ''Charles Garnier''. Paris: Monum, Éditions du patrimoine. . * Mead, Christopher Curtis (1991). ''Charles Garnier's Paris Opéra: Architectural Empathy and the Renaissance of French Classicism''. New York: The Architectural History Foundation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. . * Savorra, Massimiliano (2003). ''Itinerari italiani di formazione. Charles Garnier a Venezia'', in « Casabella », no. 709, mars 2003, * Savorra, Massimiliano (2003), ''Charles Garnier in Italia. Un viaggio attraverso le arti. 1848-1854'', (pref. Pierre Pinon), Il Poligrafo, Padova 200
scheda libro
* Savorra, Massimiliano (2005). ''Tra attese e scoperte: la Toscana di Charles Garnier'', in G. Orefice (a cura di), ''Architetti in viaggio: suggestioni e immagini'', numero monografico di «Storia dell’urbanistica Toscana», n. XI, 2005, * Savorra, Massimiliano (2010). ''Una lezione da Parigi al mondo. Il teatro di Charles Garnier'', in L. Mozzoni, S. Santini (a cura di), ''L’architettura dell’eclettismo. Il teatro. Architettura, tecniche teatrali e pubblico'', Liguori, Napoli 2010,

External links

*
Ladyghost's web

Villa Etelinda (Google Maps Street View)
former Villa Bischoffsheim, Bordighera
Villa Studio (Google Maps Street View)
Bordighera
Villa Maria Serena (Google Maps Street View)
Menton {{DEFAULTSORT:Garnier, Charles 1825 births 1898 deaths 19th-century French architects Architects from Paris Prix de Rome for architecture École des Beaux-Arts alumni Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery Historicist architects Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Theatre architects