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Set in an outdoor garden, a sculpture with two tall metal arms curve up like stylized tree branches to hold a sign between them, which reads, “METROPOLITAIN.” In this photograph, the sign faces us and fence-like rows of panels extend back from the posts, and across the back to enclose three sides. The panels, posts, and the framework holding the sign are all painted sage green. Each panel has a rounded top with a two-lobed, medallion-like center. The arms of the posts reach above the sign, and each curves up and over a burgundy-red light that hangs down like a flower bud. Three wooden benches sit within the enclosure. The sculpture is set within a garden with tall trees, a grassy lawn, and umbrella-covered café tables and chairs. A silver, metal tree rises in the near distance to our left.

Hector Guimard

An Entrance to the Paris Métropolitain, model 1902, fabricated 1902/1913

Sculpture Garden — Southwest Quadrant

Medium

painted cast iron and bronze

Dimensions

overall: 421 x 370 x 584 cm (165 3/4 x 145 11/16 x 229 15/16 in.)
gross weight (estimated): 2180.500 kg
gross weight (each upright element): 1200 lb. (544.316 kg)

Credit Line

Gift of Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod

Accession Number

2000.2.1

Artists / Makers

Hector Guimard (designer) French, 1867 - 1942

Image Use

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Overview

Architect Hector Guimard was the principal designer of the Paris Métro system, which opened in 1900 at the time of the Exposition Universelle. His work is associated with art nouveau, a style of art and architecture that is based largely on organic forms from nature. Guimard's designs were meant to clearly mark the new subway entrances and make the novel form of mass transportation more attractive to riders. The three entrance styles he designed were industrially produced in cast iron until 1913. The entrances became so iconic that Parisian art nouveau came to be known as le style Métro and le style Guimard. This version, with its graceful upward reaching tendrils and vines, can still be seen at 86 station entrances in Paris today. Between the 1930s and 1960s, the Métro removed a number of Guimard entrances in poor condition and sold some to collectors and museums who restored and displayed them. In 1978 the remaining intact Guimard entrances were registered in Paris as Monuments Historiques.

Provenance

Installed between 1902 and 1913 as an entrance to a station of the Paris Métropolitain; removed between 1930s and 1960s.[1] Private collection, Geneva; purchased 21 January 2000 by NGA.

[1] According to their archivist, the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) does not have complete records of what happened to the entrances that were removed. Those that remain in place were designated "Monuments Historiques" in 1978.

Associated Names

Anonymous

Exhibition History

2000: Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 2000-2001, no. 202.

Bibliography

2000: Art Nouveau, 1890-1914. Exh. cat. Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. London, 2000: no. 202.

2013: Cigola, Francesca. Art Parks: A Tour of America’s Sculpture Parks and Gardens. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2013: 100-101, color repro.