Two Views of a Grand Foyer
Medium
Pen and ink on tracing paper, mounted on heavy wove paper
Dimensions
Overall: 9 7/16 x 12 13/16 in. (24 x 32.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.229
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Two Views of a Grand Foyer** (1830–97) is a delicate architectural drawing by French artists Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise and Eugène-Pierre Gourdet, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department. Created with pen and ink on tracing paper—then mounted on sturdy heavy wove paper for preservation—this work measures 9 7/16 x 12 13/16 inches. The use of tracing paper highlights its practical origins, likely as a preliminary design tool favored by 19th-century architects for overlaying and refining intricate details. The composition presents dual perspectives of a...
About the Artist
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise|Eugène-Pierre Gourdet · 1897–1897
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, born Jules Lachaise on September 2, 1836, in Paris, emerged as a prominent French painter and draughtsman specializing in lavish interior decorations during the Second Empire and beyond. Little is known about his early life and formal training, though he married Berthe Gourdet in 1866, forging a close professional partnership with her brother, the decorator Eugène-Pi...