Jean-Louis Pascal
Encyclopedia
Life
Born in Paris, Pascal was taught at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-ArtsÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
by Émile Gilbert
Émile Gilbert
Émile-Jacques Gilbert was a French architect.In 1838 Gilbert was commissioned to reconstruct the hospital for the insane at Charenton along modern more humane lines recommended by Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol; the new structure was completed in 1845...
and Charles-Auguste Questel
Charles-Auguste Questel
Charles-Auguste Questel was a French academic architect and teacher.-Biography:Born in Paris, Questel was a student of Félix Duban at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and took a second-place Prix de Rome in 1844. He became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1871.Questel...
. He won the Grand Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
for Architecture in 1866, which put him in residency at the Villa Medici
Villa Medici
The Villa Medici is a mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and now property of the French...
in Rome from 1867 through 1870.
After brief service in the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, he returned to Paris to assist Hector Lefuel
Hector Lefuel
Hector-Martin Lefuel was a French historicist architect, whose most familiar work was the completion of the Palais du Louvre, including the reconstruction of the Pavillon de Flore after a disastrous fire.He was the son of Alexandre Henry Lefuel , an entrepreneurial speculative builder established...
with the restoration of the Louvre, and succeeded Questel as the head of his own old atelier. In 1875, his star rising in the academy system, Pascal was appointed the head architect for the National Library of France
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
upon the death of the previous architect, Henri Labrouste
Henri Labrouste
Pierre François Henri Labrouste was a French architect from the famous École des Beaux Arts school of architecture. After a six year stay in Rome, Labrouste opened an architectural training workshop, which quickly became the center of the Rationalist view...
. Pascal brought this long project nearly to completion, contributing interiors and exteriors, the Oval Room, the Salon Voltaire, the periodical room, and the grand staircase.
His other major work includes many monuments and memorial throughout France, the residence and studio of French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter. William Bouguereau was a traditionalist; in his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body.-Life and career :William-Adolphe...
, 75 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris, finished in 1868, and the tomb of Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet was a French historian. He was born in Paris to a family with Huguenot traditions.-Early life:His father was a master printer, not very prosperous, and Jules assisted him in the actual work of the press...
at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
in 1893.
In 1914 Pascal was awarded both the American AIA Gold Medal
AIA Gold Medal
The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture."...
in 1914 (the fourth ever awarded) and the Royal Gold Medal
Royal Gold Medal
The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture....
of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
. He died in Paris.
Influence
Pascal may have had his greatest influence as a teacher, both for French architects and particularly for international students who adapted the lessons of the Beaux-Arts to their home countries. Pascal's atelier was credited with a total of four grand prizes and fifteen second prizes while he was patron.Among Pascal's many students were:
- the French-American Paul Philippe CretPaul Philippe CretPaul Philippe Cret was a French-American architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he headed the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.- Biography :...
- the French-American Constant-Désiré Despradelle, who educated a further generation of student as professor of architecture at MITMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
- the Scottish Sir John James BurnetJohn James BurnetSir John James Burnet was a Scottish Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow, Scotland and London, England...
- the American Guy LowellGuy LowellGuy Lowell , American architect, was the son of Mary Walcott and Edward Jackson Lowell, and a member of Boston's well-known Lowell family....
- the Canadian William Sutherland MaxwellWilliam Sutherland MaxwellWilliam Sutherland Maxwell was a well-known Canadian architect and a Hand of the Cause in the Bahá'í Faith. He was born in Montreal, Canada to parents Edward John Maxwell and Johan MacBean.-Education:...
- the Canadian Ernest CormierErnest Cormierthumb|Église Sainte-Marguerite-Marie-Alacoque, Montréal, thumb|Église Saint-Ambroise, Montréal, Ernest Cormier, OC was a Canadian engineer and architect who spent much of his career in the Montreal area, erecting notable examples of Art Deco architecture.-Life and career:He was born in Montreal,...
- Henri Paul NénotHenri Paul NénotHenri Paul Nénot was a noted French architect.Nénot was born in Paris. After his initial training in an architectural workshop, he entered the studio of Charles-Auguste Questel at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts while also working for various architects, including Charles Garnier...
- Henri SauvageHenri SauvageHenri Sauvage was a French architectural designer.Sauvage was born in Rouen, France. After studying at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in the atelier of Jean-Louis Pascal, he opened a wallpaper shop in Paris for which he got orders from Hector Guimard and Louis Majorelle, he then...
- Charles MewèsCharles MewèsCharles Frédéric Mewès was a French architect and designer.-Biography:Charles Frédéric Mewès was born at Strasbourg. He came from a Jewish family of Baltic origin. The whole family left Alsace in 1870 during the Prussian invasion. At 20, he joined the office of Jean-Louis Pascal, a then famous...
Sources
- The American architect from the colonial era to the present By Cecil D. Elliott