Pierre Contant d'Ivry
Encyclopedia
Pierre Contant d'Ivry was a French architect
and designer working in a chaste and sober Rococo
style and in the Goût grec
phase of early Neoclassicism
.
, and baron Bernstorff
, the Danish ambassador. Though he was not formally received into the Académie royale d'architecture until 1751, he was the architect attached to Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti
, between 1737 and 1749. He was replaced in this position by Jean-Baptiste Courtonne.
, for whom he transformed interiors of the Palais-Royal, Paris, in 1754, designs that were widely admired and published by Diderot
and d'Alembert in the Encyclopédie
, 1762, where Jacques-François Blondel
praised their "correct middle pathway between two excesses, that of the heavy weight of our ancients and that of frivolity". Surviving examples include the dining room of the Duchesse d'Orléans (now the Salle du Tribunal des Conflits of the Conseil d'État http://www.conseil-etat.fr/cde/node.php?pageid=387), which is in a neo-classical style with pilasters, and another of her rooms (now the Salle des Finances http://www.conseil-etat.fr/cde/node.php?pageid=386), which is lighter and more reminiscent of the earlier French Regency period. Contant d'Ivry was also responsible for the exteriors of the northern part of the east wing (now on the Rue de Valois), the avant corps of which, "with its giant balcony brackets and rather inventive detailing, combines Rococo-style decorative charm with a certain Classical solidity in its massing."
In 1763 a fire which started in the east wing in the opera house, the Salle du Palais-Royal, destroyed not only the theatre but also the adjoining sections of the palace. While the municipality of Paris was responsible for the opera house and hired its own architect, Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux
, who also designed the new facades on the Rue Saint-Honoré side of the building, Louis Philippe engaged Contant d'Ivry, who designed the interiors of the reconstructed corps de logis, the facades of the Cour d'Honneur (on the garden side), and a grand staircase http://www.conseil-etat.fr/cde/node.php?pageid=391, the "splendid escalier d'honneur, [which] with its domed covering and dramatic curved descent, is justly famous."
in Paris, for which he drew inspiration from Jacques-Germain Soufflot
's Église Sainte-Geneviève. Though the foundation stone was laid by Louis XV
in 1763, funds lagged, and after Contant d'Ivry's death, the plans were modified, then the partially built structure was razed and begun anew.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and designer working in a chaste and sober Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
style and in the Goût grec
Goût grec
Goût grec is the term applied to the earliest expression of the neoclassical style in France, it refers specifically to the decorative arts and architecture of the mid-1750s to the late 1760s. The style was more fanciful than historically accurate though the first archaeological surveys of Greece...
phase of early Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
.
Biography
An Architecte du Roi from 1728, he spent his career working for the French Crown and for an aristocratic private clientele: the contrôleur-général des finances Machault d'Arnouville, the princes de Soubise and de CroÿHouse of Croÿ
The House of Croÿ is an international family of European mediatized nobility which held a seat in the Imperial Diet from 1486, and was elevated to the rank of Imperial Princes in 1594...
, and baron Bernstorff
Andreas Peter Bernstorff
Andreas Peter Bernstorff was a Danish statesman and politician. He was a Danish minister, father of Christian Günther von Bernstorff, and a guardian of civil and political liberty.-Background and early career:A. P...
, the Danish ambassador. Though he was not formally received into the Académie royale d'architecture until 1751, he was the architect attached to Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti
Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti
Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was a French nobleman, who was the Prince of Conti from 1727 to his death, following his father Louis Armand II. His mother was Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, a natural granddaughter of Louis XIV...
, between 1737 and 1749. He was replaced in this position by Jean-Baptiste Courtonne.
Palais-Royal
Later Contant d'Ivry worked for Louis-Philippe, duc d'OrléansLouis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe d'Orléans known as le Gros , was a French nobleman, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of...
, for whom he transformed interiors of the Palais-Royal, Paris, in 1754, designs that were widely admired and published by Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
and d'Alembert in the Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
, 1762, where Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
praised their "correct middle pathway between two excesses, that of the heavy weight of our ancients and that of frivolity". Surviving examples include the dining room of the Duchesse d'Orléans (now the Salle du Tribunal des Conflits of the Conseil d'État http://www.conseil-etat.fr/cde/node.php?pageid=387), which is in a neo-classical style with pilasters, and another of her rooms (now the Salle des Finances http://www.conseil-etat.fr/cde/node.php?pageid=386), which is lighter and more reminiscent of the earlier French Regency period. Contant d'Ivry was also responsible for the exteriors of the northern part of the east wing (now on the Rue de Valois), the avant corps of which, "with its giant balcony brackets and rather inventive detailing, combines Rococo-style decorative charm with a certain Classical solidity in its massing."
In 1763 a fire which started in the east wing in the opera house, the Salle du Palais-Royal, destroyed not only the theatre but also the adjoining sections of the palace. While the municipality of Paris was responsible for the opera house and hired its own architect, Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux
Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux
Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux was a pioneering French neoclassical architect.Though he did not gain the Prix de Rome that was the dependable gateway to a prominent French career in architecture, his fellow-student Charles de Wailly invited him to share his prize...
, who also designed the new facades on the Rue Saint-Honoré side of the building, Louis Philippe engaged Contant d'Ivry, who designed the interiors of the reconstructed corps de logis, the facades of the Cour d'Honneur (on the garden side), and a grand staircase http://www.conseil-etat.fr/cde/node.php?pageid=391, the "splendid escalier d'honneur, [which] with its domed covering and dramatic curved descent, is justly famous."
Église de la Madeleine
In 1757, he presented a project for the new Église de la MadeleineÉglise de la Madeleine
L'église de la Madeleine is a Roman Catholic church occupying a commanding position in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon's army...
in Paris, for which he drew inspiration from Jacques-Germain Soufflot
Jacques-Germain Soufflot
Jacques Germain Soufflot was a French architect in the international circle that introduced Neoclassicism. His most famous work is the Panthéon, Paris, built from 1755 onwards, originally as a church dedicated to Sainte Genevieve.- Biography :Soufflot was born in Irancy, near Auxerre.In the 1730s...
's Église Sainte-Geneviève. Though the foundation stone was laid by Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
in 1763, funds lagged, and after Contant d'Ivry's death, the plans were modified, then the partially built structure was razed and begun anew.
Principal commissions
- Château de Bizy, Vernon (Eure), for the maréchal de Belle-Isle (ca 1740, partly destroyed).
- Hôtel d'Évreux, 19 Place VendômePlace VendômePlace Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the...
, Paris : grand staircase and boiseries (1747). - Château d'Arnouville at Arnouville-lès-Gonesse, for Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville. He collaborated there with Jean-Michel ChevotetJean-Michel ChevotetJean-Michel Chevotet was a French architect. He and Pierre Contant d'Ivry were among the most eminent Parisian architects of the day and designed in both the restrained French Rococo manner, known as the "Louis XV style" and in the "Goût grec" phase of early Neoclassicism...
, (1751–1757). - Palais-Royal, Paris: In 1752 he provided décors for two main rooms, the salle de la section des Finances du Conseil d'État, (notably for the carved fielded panels of its double doors and its ceiling cornice) and the neoclassical salle à manger of the duchesse d'Orléans (now the salle du Tribunal des conflits), one of the earliest neoclassical interiors in Paris. After a fire in 1763, Contant d'Ivry rebuilt the central block, with its facade on the cour d'honneur and the monumental staircase (1765).
- Château de Saint-Cloud
- Project for the Abbey and church of Pentemont, rue de Bellechasse at rue de Grenelle, Paris (published 1769): The structures as built were to another design.
- Hôpital général, ValenciennesValenciennesValenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
(1750) - The new palace Saint-Vaast d’Arras, Arras.
- Église Saint-Wasnon at Condé-sur-Escaut (1751).
- Château de Stors (Oise): Chapel for the prince de Conti.
Garden designs
- Château de Chamarande (Essonne).He provided a theater en plein air, an orangerie, a buffet d'eau, belvedereBelvedere (structure)Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...
and designs for an ornamental vegetable garden. - Château d'Heilly (Somme).
- Château de Bizy at Vernon (Eure).
- Château des Conti at L'Isle-Adam (Val-d'Oise).
- Château de Stors at L'Isle-Adam (Val d'Oise). The park and the monumental terraces.
Furniture designs
- Console table, gilded wood, c 1750-55; set of four wall lights, 1756. The Getty Center, Los Angeles.
Sources
- Ayers, Andrew (2004). The Architecture of Paris. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. ISBN 9783930698967.
- Baritou, Jean-Louis (1987). Chevotet, Contant, Chaussard: un cabinet d'architectes au Siècle des lumières. Lyon: La Manufacture. ISBN 9782904638985.
- Bourbon de Conti, Louis François de, editor (2000). Les Trésors des Princes de Bourbon Conti. Paris: Editions Somogy. ISBN 9782850563980.
- Braham, Allan (1980). The Architecture of the French Enlightenment. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520067394.
- Dassas, Frédéric (1995). Les Résidences du Prince de Conti, mémoire de maîtrise d’histoire de l’art sous la direction d’Antoine Schnapper, Paris IV-Sorbonne.
- Ericson, Svend (1974). Early Neo-Classicism in France. London: Faber. ISBN 9780571087174.
- Gallet, Michel (1995). Les architectes parisiens du XVIIIe siècle: dictionnaire biographique et critique. Paris: Editions Mengès. ISBN 9782856203705.
- Joudiou, Gabrielle (1987). "Pierre Contant d’Ivry" in Baritou 1987, pp. 86–181.
- Joudiou, Gabrielle (1993). "Contant d’Ivry et les jardins classiques au XVIIIe siècle " in Jardins du Val-d’Oise.
- Joudiou, Gabrielle (1998). "L’art des jardins chez Contant d’Ivry" in Annales du Centre Ledoux II.
- Joudiou, Gabrielle (2000). L’Architecte Contant d’Ivry à L’Isle-Adam et à Stors in Bourbon de Conti 2000, pp. 107–111.
- Olivier-Valengin, Elyne (2000). "Le château des princes de Bourbon Conti à L’Isle-Adam" in Bourbon de Conti 2000, pp. 112–123.