Victor Louis

This article is about an architect. For the Soviet journalist, see Victor Louis (journalist).

Victor Louis
Victor Louis
Born10 May 1731
Paris, France
Died2 July 1800(1800-07-02) (aged 69)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationArchitect
SpouseMarie-Emmanuelle Bayon Louis
ChildrenMarie-Hélène-Victoire Louis

Victor Louis (French pronunciation: [viktɔʁ lwi]; 10 May 1731, Paris – 2 July 1800, Paris) was a French architect, disqualified on a technicality from winning the Prix de Rome in architecture in 1755.[1]

Life

He was born Louis-Nicolas Louis in Paris.[2] He did not adopt the name Victor until after he returned from a trip to Poland in 1765.[3] In 1770 he married the pianist and composer Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon. They had a daughter, Marie-Hélène-Victoire, in 1774.[4] A full biography of Victor Louis was published by Charles Marionneau in Bordeaux in 1881.[5]

Work

Louis' masterpiece is the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux of 1780.[6] He also designed other theatres, including the Salle Richelieu on the rue de Richelieu (1790, later to become the home of the Comédie-Française) and the Théâtre National de la rue de la Loi (1793, demolished).[7] The Salle Richelieu was the first major building with a roof structure of iron which was selected for its fire-resistant qualities when compared with wood.[8][9] Other buildings include the Intendance in Besançon (completed 1776), the garden galleries of the Palais-Royal in Paris (1781–1784), the Salle de Beaujolais (1782–83), and the Château du Bouilh near Bordeaux (1786–1789, unfinished).[10][11]

Notes

  1. ^ John 1998, p. 725.
  2. ^ Marionneau 1881, p. 2.
  3. ^ Marionneau 1881, p. 3; Braham 1980, p. 147.
  4. ^ Marionnaire 1881, p. 554.
  5. ^ Marionneau 1881.
  6. ^ Lacouture 1994.
  7. ^ Prudent & Guadet 1903.
  8. ^ Fletcher 1961, p. 1063.
  9. ^ Ayers 2004, p. 48.
  10. ^ Braham 1980, pp. 145–157.
  11. ^ "Collections Online-Victor Louis". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 29 July 2020. (Salle de Beaujolais)

Bibliography

  • Ayers, Andrew (2004). The Architecture of Paris. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. ISBN 9783930698967.
  • Braham, Allan (1980). The Architecture of the French Enlightenment. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520067394.
  • Croizier, Laurent; Bourrousse, Luc (2011). The Grand-Théâtre of Bordeaux. Bordeaux: Festin. ISBN 9782360620401.
  • Fletcher, Banister (1961). A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, 17th edition, edited by R. A. Cordingley. London: The Athlone Press. OCLC 561038671. 1963 reprint: OCLC 859646659. Copy at Internet Archive.
  • John, Richard (1998). "Louis, Victor [Louis-Nicolas]" in Turner 1998, vol. 19, pp. 725–726.
  • Lacouture, Jean (1994). Le Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux, ou L’Opéra des Vendanges, photographs by Dominique Thillard. Paris: Caisse nationale des monuments historiques et des sites. ISBN 9782858221257.
  • Marionneau, Charles (1881). Victor Louis, Architecte du Théâtre de Bordeaux: Sa vie, ses travaux et sa correspondance 1731–1800. Bordeaux: G. Gounouilhou View at Google Books..
  • Prudent, Henri; Guadet, Paul (1903). Les salles de spectacle construites par Victor Louis à Bordeaux, au Palais-Royal et à la place Louvois. Paris: Librairie de la construction moderne. OCLC 7065687.
  • Turner, Jane, editor (1998). The Dictionary of Art, reprinted with minor corrections, 34 volumes. New York: Grove. ISBN 9781884446009.