Paris 1900 - Petit Palais :: Architecture History

Missing range of a functionParis 1900 - Petit PalaisAlong with the Grand Palais and the Pont Alexandre III, the Petit Palais served as unity of the main focuses of the world(prenominal) Exhibition of 1900 and helped solidify the position of France as artistic world leader. con diethylstilbestrolcension its inferiority in size to the Grand Palais, contemporary critics noted that the Petit Palais is of passable importance in creating an impression of the artistic success of the Exhibition (Boyd, 194). From its inception, it was construct to serve as a permanent gallery of painting and sculpture.This morose and white postcard represents the inner courtyard of the Petit Palais, which was established at the depreciate of the Palais de lIndustrie that had been erected for the 1855 Exposition. Architect Eugne Hnard (1849-1923) proposed the diethylstilbesteroltruction of the Palais De lIndustrie. In 1894, Hnard received wholeness of collar first prizes (others were granted to Charl es Girault and Edmond J.B. Paulin) in the competition for the general plan of the Exposition. The final layout of the fair incorporated his mite of cutting a new street from the Champs-Elysees through the Palais de lIndustrie which would cross the seine River on a new bridge and then terminate at the Dme des Invalides (Wolf, 29). Although some Frenchmen opposed the destruction of the Palais de Ilndustrie, which was seen as one of the most conspicuous landmarks on the Champs Elyses and served as an exhibition vestibule at the time, many agreed it was obsolete. According to Richard Morris Hunt, a prestigious American architect, from the very day it began to rise above the ground the critics cried against the destruction of one of the finest perspective views that Paris afforded, and condemned this heavy and compact mask that was being interposed amid the Champs Elyses and the dome of the Invalides (Hunt, 31). Hnard recommended replacing the Palais de lIndustrie with two buildings, Palais des Beaux-Arts and Palais des Lettres (Wolf, 29). From Hnards idea came the establishment of the Grand Palais, Petit Palais, and the Pont Alexandre III.In 1896, Charles-Louis Girault (1851-1932) was nominative chief architect for the Petit Palais. He found his inspiration mainly in eighteenth century French architecture. The main faade was located crosswise from the Grand Palais on the East Side of the Avenue Nicholas II (today Winston Churchill). Of the three other facades, one faced the Seine River, another Avenue des Champs-Elyses. The plan of the Petit Palais was that of a regular trapezoid and was arranged around a central closed courtyard.