Bernard Auguste Rives, known as Gustave Rives (1858–1926), was a French architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who designed residential, institutional, and commercial buildings in France in a style described as "opulent eclecticism." He organized many popular auto and aeronautical shows in Paris before the First World War.

Life and work

Bernard Auguste Rives was born 16 September 1858 in

Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Saint-Palais (; eu, Donapaleu)DONAPALEU

, in the Aquitaine region of France. His parents were Pierre Rives and Victoire Etchart. In 1876, he went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts under Louis-Jules André and

Eugène Train Eugène Train (1832–1903) was a French architect who taught for many years at the École des Arts Décoratifs. He is known as an advocate of rationalist architecture, which he applied with large schools such as the Lycée Chaptal and Lycée V ...

. In addition to designing many apartment and office buildings throughout Paris in the 1880s and 1890s, Rives enlarged and embellished the Grands Magasins Dufayel in Montmartre, with a dome and an unusual curving staircase, as well as large spaces for displaying merchandise. Dufayel

Rives also built a house on the Champs-Elysées for the store's founder,

Georges Dufayel Georges Dufayel (1 January 1855 – 28 December 1916) was a Parisian retailer and businessman who popularized and expanded the practice of buying merchandise on credit ( installment plans) and purchasing from catalogues. He is mainly remembered ...

. After the death of Dufayel in 1916, this house was used as a press club during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (it was demolished in the 1920s to make way for a shopping arcade). Also in collaboration with Georges Dufayel, Rives created at least two major resort buildings for

Sainte-Adresse Sainte-Adresse () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the region of Normandy, France. Geography A coastal suburb situated some northwest of Le Havre city centre, at the junction of the D147 and the D940. The English Channel forms th ...

, in Normandy, in the quartier known as Le Nice-Havrais. One, the ''Immeuble Dufayel'', a residential building, still stands. The other, ''l'Hotellerie'', was used as the headquarters for the Belgian government in exile during the First World War, and was demolished by the occupying German army in the Second World War. Rives served as architect for the Crédit Foncier of Algeria, the Société Foncière Lyonnaise, and the Compagnie d'Assurances Générales. He also designed several hotels for the town of Menton on the Riviera. A large part of his work was the design of rental apartment buildings in Paris. His work was recognized by the City of Paris in the Concours des Façades in 1899, when he won a prize for a building at 45, rue du Chateau d’Eau in the 10th arrondissement. Another prominent Paris building was the Hotel Astoria on the Champs-Elysées, built in 1907. Some critics complained that its high domes detracted from the view of the Arc de Triomphe nearby. This building was destroyed by fire in 1972. Between 1901 and 1910, Rives was manager and organizer for special events at the

Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais (English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arro ...

in Paris, particularly the popular automobile and aeronautical shows. For each one, he designed elaborate temporary decorations.Gilles Plum, ''Le Grand Palais'', Editions du Patrimoine, 2005, p. 166. The aeronautical show was a spin-off from the auto shows: Rives published substantial reports on these shows. He also redesigned the interior of the

French Automobile Club The Automobile Club of France (french: Automobile Club de France, links=no) (ACF) is a men's club founded on November 12, 1895 by Albert de Dion, Paul Meyan, and its first president, the Dutch-born Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt. The Aut ...

on the

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde () is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. ...

in Paris. Gustave Rives was made a Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

in 1908 and held the post of Chief Architect of the City of Paris and Directeur des Palais civils et nationaux. In 1885, Rives married Jeanne-Gabrielle de Lavaysse (1865–1942), and had three children: Edouard Roger Marcel (b. 1886), Jean Angèly Georges (1889–1964), and Germaine (b. 1892). In 1907, Rives bought the Chateau de Jeufosse near

Gaillon Gaillon () is a commune in the Eure department in northern France. History The origins of Gaillon are not really known. In 892, Rollo, a Viking chief, might have ravaged Gaillon and the region, before he became the first prince of the Normans an ...

in Eure, Haute Normandie. He died in Paris on 28 January 1926 at 14,

rue de l'Université ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluis ...

. He was buried at Jeufosse.

Buildings designed or decorated by Gustave Rives

The following were designed in whole or in part by Gustave Rives and are still standing: * Hotel Alexandra, Menton (1885), now the Résidence Alexandra * 80, rue Charles-Laffitte, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 92000 (1888) * 11 bis, rue de Lauriston, 16e, Paris (1888) * 178, rue Legendre, 17e, Paris (1888) * 182, rue Legendre, 17e, Paris (1890) * 39, rue St-Dominique, 7e, Paris (1890) * 10, avenue d’Eylau, 16e, Paris (1890) * 36, avenue d’Eylau, 16e, Paris (1890) * 12 & 16, rue de Bourgogne, 7e, Paris (1891) * 1, avenue de Versailles / rue Maurice Bourdet (1891) * 4, rue Trévise, 9e, Paris (1892) * 8, rue de Chantilly, 9e, Paris (1893) * 2, rue Trévise / 22 rue Bergère, 9e, Paris (1894) * 18, rue Boissière, 16e, Paris (1894) * 108-110, avenue Kléber, 16e, Paris (1894–95) * 23 and 23 bis, avenue Niel, 17e, Paris (1894 and 1898) * 64, rue Jean de la Fontaine, 16e, Paris (1895) * 107, rue de la Pompe, 16e, Paris (1895) * Grand Magasins Dufayel, 30, rue de Clignancourt, 18e, Paris: the original building by Alfred Le Bègue and Stephan Le Bègue was enlarged in 1895 and 1900 by Gustave Rives. Rives’ dome has been removed, the curving staircase has been demolished, and his former grand entrance is now the back of a building that serves as the offices of a bank. * 11 & 11bis, rue du Perche, 3e, Paris (1896) * 129, boulevard du Montparnasse, 6e, Paris (1897) * 1-1bis, rue de la Pompe, 16e, Paris (1897) * 5, rue d’Edimbourg, 8e, Paris (1897) * 16-16bis, rue de Lubeck / 2 rue Hamelin, 16e, Paris (1897) * 20, rue Boissière, 16e, Paris (1897–98) * 128, boulevard de Courcelles, 17e, Paris (1897–98) * 11, rue Boissière, 16e, Paris (1898) * 4, place Victor Hugo, 16e, Paris (1898) * 45, rue du Chateau d’Eau, 10e, Paris (1898), winner of the Concours des Façades * 7, rue Rembrandt, 8e, Paris, at the corner of the rue de Lisbonne (1898–99) * 14, rue Pelouze (corner of the rue Constantinople), 8e, Paris (1899) * Musée Grévin (wax museum), 9e, Paris (1888-1900) * 1 rue Villaret de Joyeuse/2 rue Brunel, 17e, Paris (1901) * 2 rue Villaret de Joyeuse/1 rue des Acacias, 17e, Paris (1902) * 17 rue Rennequin / 27 rue Fourcroy, 17e, Paris (1903) * 13 avenue Raymond Poincaré, 16e, Paris (1905) * 43, rue des Petits-Champs, 1er, Paris (1911) * Immeuble Dufayel, Sainte-Adresse (1911) * Automobile Club of France, 6, place de la Concorde, 8e, Paris (1912): Rives created the interior spaces for the club in an existing building * 36 rue Damrémont, 18e, Paris (1907) * 4 rue d’Iéna/16 rue Fresnel, 16e, Paris (1912) – creation of a new façade for le comte de Cambacérès (building is now the Embassy of Iran) The following major buildings by Rives have been destroyed or demolished: * Archives of the Crédit Lyonnais, rue de la Glacière, 13e, Paris (1890; demolished 1970) * House for Gabriel Thomas, 2 rue des Capucins, Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine (1890; demolished 1988 to make way for the Parc Gilbert Gauer) * 80 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Hotel particulier de Georges Dufayel (1894; demolished in the 1920s) * Hotel Astoria, 122, avenue des Champs-Elysées (built 1907; destroyed by fire in 1972) * Casino Marie Christine, Le Havre (1912; demolished 1960) * Hôtel de voyageurs, known as “l'Hôtellerie,” Sainte-Adresse (1913; destroyed in 1942) Statues and monuments * Statue of Édouard Pailleron, Parc Monceau (1906), with sculptor Léopold Bernstamm * Monument to

Émile Levassor Émile Constant Levassor (21 January 1843 – 14 April 1897) was a French engineer and a pioneer of the automobile industry and car racing in France. Biography Levassor was born in Marolles-en-Hurepoix. After studying engineering and graduatin ...

, Porte Maillot (1907), with sculptures by Camille Lefevre, after a design by Jules Dalou * Monument to

Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served as the Prime Minister of France. Early life Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Brittany. His father, René Wal ...

, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris (1909), with sculptures by Laurent Honoré Marqueste

Publications

* "Hotel Bedrooms from the Sanitary Point of View", ''Journal of the Sanitary Institute'', c.1900 * ''Exposition décennale de l’automobile, du cycle, et des sports'', 1908 * ''Congrès international des applications du moteur à mélange tonnant et du Moteur à Combustion Interne aux Marines de Guerre, de Commerce, de Peche et de Plaisance'', 1908 * ''Rapport sur le premier salon de l’aeronautique'', 1908

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rives, Gustave 1858 births 1926 deaths 19th-century French architects 20th-century French architects École des Beaux-Arts alumni