Hector Guimard Oak and Leaded Glass Doors
Regular price
$125,000
Designed in 1899 by Hector Guimard for the Castel Henriette in Sèvres, France, these exceptional oak and leaded-glass doors exemplify the architect’s distinctive Art Nouveau vocabulary. Their pointed rectangular silhouette incorporates a sophisticated arrangement of nested arches: a rounded arch framed by a basket-handle arch, both enclosed within a broad, blunt-pointed arch. The stained-glass panels, fabricated by master glassmaker Georges Néret (active 1850–1919), feature a luminous composition of streaky mauve and white glass, rippled yellow glass, clear blue glass, burnt sienna glass, and additional shades of yellow and blue. Below the glazing, raised cartouche panels display Guimard’s signature sinuous line, distinguished by inward-rolling scrolls that animate the otherwise rectilinear oak framework. The interior faces retain elaborate architectural hardware, including a box lock and strike plate embellished with spark-shaped brackets, a sculptural lever handle, and surface bolts mounted at the top and bottom of the doors. These functional elements extend Guimard’s organic design language into the smallest architectural details, unifying structure, ornament, and utility.
Item #: YF-22487
Artist: Hector Guimard
Country: France
Circa: 1899
Dimensions: 116" height, 84" width, central door opening 31" width
Materials: Oak, Leaded Glass
Provenance: Castel Henriette in Sèvres
Item #: YF-22487
Artist: Hector Guimard
Country: France
Circa: 1899
Dimensions: 116" height, 84" width, central door opening 31" width
Materials: Oak, Leaded Glass
Provenance: Castel Henriette in Sèvres
The Castel Henriette, designed by Hector Guimard in 1899, was among the architect’s most imaginative residential commissions and an important expression of his emerging Art Nouveau style. Built in Sèvres, outside Paris, the villa featured an unconventional architectural composition in which asymmetrical forms, curving lines, and elaborate decorative details challenged traditional architectural conventions. Although the house was demolished in 1969, surviving architectural elements preserve evidence of Guimard’s remarkably integrated approach to design. The doors demonstrate his fascination with transforming conventional architectural forms into fluid, organic compositions. Their nested arches reinterpret traditional Gothic and Renaissance architectural motifs, while the inward-rolling scrolls of the oak cartouches echo the dynamic curves found throughout his furniture, interiors, and celebrated Paris Métro entrances. The collaboration with Georges Néret further illustrates Guimard’s commitment to the Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, in which architecture, stained glass, woodwork, and metal fittings were conceived as complementary elements of a unified artistic vision.
The Castel Henriette, designed by Hector Guimard in 1899, was among the architect’s most imaginative residential commissions and an important expression of his emerging Art Nouveau style. Built in Sèvres, outside Paris, the villa featured an unconventional architectural composition in which asymmetrical forms, curving lines, and elaborate decorative details challenged traditional architectural conventions. Although the house was demolished in 1969, surviving architectural elements preserve evidence of Guimard’s remarkably integrated approach to design. The doors demonstrate his fascination with transforming conventional architectural forms into fluid, organic compositions. Their nested arches reinterpret traditional Gothic and Renaissance architectural motifs, while the inward-rolling scrolls of the oak cartouches echo the dynamic curves found throughout his furniture, interiors, and celebrated Paris Métro entrances. The collaboration with Georges Néret further illustrates Guimard’s commitment to the Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, in which architecture, stained glass, woodwork, and metal fittings were conceived as complementary elements of a unified artistic vision.
