Balustrade
- Designer
- Hector Guimard, French, 1867–1942
- Date
- 1905
- Material
- Cast iron
- made in
- Lorraine region, France, Europe
- Classification
- Architectural elements, metalwork
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 135
- Dimensions
- 16 5/8 x 34 x 1 1/4 in. (42.2 x 86.4 x 3.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Richard Brumbaugh Trust in memory of Richard Irving Brumbaugh and in honor of Grace Lischer Brumbaugh; additional funds given by Isabelle and Jean-Paul Montupet, Dr. and Mrs. F. Thomas Ott, and David and Molly Ott
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 193:1993
NOTES
Nature was the primary source of inspiration for the French architect Hector Guimard, who animated his designs with abstract clusters of buds, unfurling plant forms, and writhing tendrils. Guimard sought a new mode of expression that broke from historical styles. Rather than applying the ornament as separate decorative elements, he worked like a sculptor, fusing structure and ornament, often creating linear whiplash contours that conveyed movement. During the Art Nouveau period, architects worked in a variety of materials, designing not only entire buildings and architectural ornaments, but their interiors and furnishings as well.