Victor Louis

Victor Louis (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]

Victor Louis
Victor Louis
Born	10 May 1731 Paris, France
Died	2 July 1800 (aged 69) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Architect
Spouse(s)	Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon Louis
Children	Marie-Hélène-Victoire Louis

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 theatre of the Comédie-Française on the rue de Richelieu (1790) and the Théâtre National de la rue de la Loi (1793, demolished).[7] 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),[8] and the Château du Bouilh near Bordeaux (1786–1789, unfinished).[9]

Gallery

• 
  Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux
• 
  Plan of the Théâtre de Bordeaux
  (at the level of the second loges)
• 
  Central staircase of the Théâtre de Bordeaux
• 
  Comédie-Française
  (as designed by Louis)
• 
  Auditorium of the Comédie-Française
  (as designed by Louis)
• 
  Intendance, Besançon (garden facade)
• 
  Design for the garden galleries of the Palais-Royal
• 
  Perspective view of the garden galleries of the Palais-Royal
• 
  Château of Le Bouilh
• 
  Auditorium of the Théâtre-National
• 
  Architectural drawings of the Théâtre-National

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. "Collections Online-Victor Louis". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
9. Braham 1980, pp. 145–157.

Bibliography

• 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.
• 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.