Pair of Large ca. 1845 Beaux Arts Drawings - Paris Opera House

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Paul Jacot
Pair of Large ca. 1845 Beaux Arts Drawings - Paris Opera House
ca. 1845

About the Item

Paul Jacot (Paris 1798–1860). Elevation de la Principale Entrée sur la Rue et la Place de Richelieu. Elevation Laterale sur la Rue Nueve et Celle Colbert. Ink with terra cotta, blue and grey wash on wove paper. Watermarked J. Whatman Turkey Mill, 1844. Dimensions: 25-1/2” x 39”. The history of this pair of drawings commences, nearly 200 years ago, with assassination and concludes, a quarter century later, with disappointment, and another murderer attempt. The evening of February 13, 1820, as he was leaving Paris’ Opera House on rue Richelieu, Charles Ferdinand, Duc de Berry, son of future king Charles X, was stabbed to death by a saddle maker and anti-monarchist. In response, Charles’ uncle, King Louis XVIII, had the Opera torn down, to be replaced by a park and memorial chapel. Events, including the revolution of 1830, intervened, and the chapel went unbuilt. In the meantime, much of the dismantled building was carted several blocks up Rue Richelieu to a new site, on the adjacent Rue Le Peletier, where the parts were incorporated into a new opera house, intended as temporary, which opened on August 16, 1821. The Opera Le Peletier (aka Salle le Peletier), designed by architect Francois Debret, persisted a half a century, before burning in 1873. The theater held many names, depending upon the prevailing political climate. From 1821-1848 it was called the Theater de l’Academie Royale de Musique (the title given the building in the official drawings). With the establishment of the Second Republic in 1848, Royale was, of course, excised; and the building renamed Opera-Theatre de la Nation, an appellation that endured only until 1850, when the place was again renamed. In the year following completion of Paris’ temporary Opera House, architects and others proposed a variety of more permanent solutions. Among our favorites is Hippolyte Menadier’s 25 page discussion, in an 1844 issue of Revue Generale de l’Architecture, describing the (very xxxx) pxxx of the various parts of a new theater, without getting bogged down by any drawings – a series of elaborately-wrought and delightful (if slightly mad) word pictures. In 1845, architect Paul Jacot tried his hand. Jacot, winner of the 1817 Grand Prix d’Architecture at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux Arts, was a student there of Francois Debret, soon-to-be architect of the Opera House in Rue Le Peletier. Between 1822 and 1840, Jacot was Court Architect to Tsar Alexander I in St. Petersburg, where, in 1839, he designed the large Philharmonic Hall, among other commissions. His proposal for the Paris Opera, described by the offered pair of signed and dated drawings, envisioned the building directly across Rue Richelieu from the site of the hall removed on order of Louis XVIII; the garden there, then called Place Richelieu, serving as a forecourt. The proposed building, swathed in Beaux Arts Classicism, was to run through the block to Rue Varenne, bounded on its long sides by Rue Colbert and a new street (Rue Nueve). The site was soon to be occupied by the National Library. Jacot’s Opera, of course, was never built. Unknown is why he undertook this project. History records no competition nor sponsor. With his successes in St. Petersburg; the evident skill of the new scheme; and shear extent of the presentation drawings describing this proposal (about them, more later), we imagine this undertaking may have proved a significant disappointment. Interestingly though, Jacot’s proposal appears to have exercised some influence on the design of subsequent schemes for Paris’ Opera. His building’s Signal architectural features – a rectangular planned central block to which is appended a large semi-circular volume, with a prominent setback attic above – were examples followed by several entries in the 1860 architectural design competition eventually won by Charles Garnier, which resulted in the memorably opulent building seen today. Traces of Jacot’s proposal are evident even in Garnier’s very much larger building. Interestingly, the 1860 competition was precipitated by the attempted assassination of Napoleon III, two years earlier, in front of the makeshift Opera Le Peletier. Plus ca change … The two very Fine drawings offered here are critical elements of a once larger group of drawings. Two other drawings from this set, along with the offered images, were sold at Christies’ East in 1982. Another was sold in 1996, also at Christies’. All are on wove paper with the watermark for Whatman’s Wove Turkey Mill and dated 1844; and are signed to the lower right, in a flourishing script, “chez P. Jacot, 1845.” Some foxing and repaired tears.

Creator:
Paul Jacot (1798 - 1860, French)
Creation Year:
ca. 1845
Dimensions:
Height: 33.75 in (85.73 cm)Width: 47.5 in (120.65 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Medium:
Pen,Watercolor
Period:
19th Century
Condition:
Dimensions above include giltwood frames.
Gallery Location:
Lafayette, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU2722695252