Attributed to Paul-Antoine-Fleuri FARGE (1880-?). - Lot 58

Attributed to Paul-Antoine-Fleuri FARGE (1880-?). Project for the elevation of a Parisian building "aux chimères". Pen, ink, ink wash and watercolor highlights on paper mounted on paper. Dimensions: 25 x 50 cm (as seen). (In a glass frame). Son of Parisian architect Laurent Farge (1847-1932), Paul-Antoine-Fleuri followed the same professional path. He entered the architecture department of the École nationale et spéciale des Beaux-arts de Paris in 1899, the year his father published a work on construction. Graduating as an architect on February 24, 1905, Paul-Antoine-Fleuri set up his father's practice at 10, rue Daubigny in the 17th arrondissement. From then on, he collaborated with his father, while pursuing his own projects. In 1911, for example, he helped build the Trouville-sur-Mer town hall. Despite a few variations, our drawing shows many similarities in line and decoration with an imposing building currently forming the corner of 51, rue d'Anjou and 53, rue des Mathurins, in Paris's 8th arrondissement. The ashlar elevation is signed "P. FARGE" and dated 1927. At a time when the Art Deco style was developing, Paul-Antoine-Fleuri FARGE's architectural treatment of this complex was in the spirit of Haussmannian eclecticism. Like the corner of the building, our design features a ribbed first floor with high semi-circular openings, a large rocaille cartouche as a clasp, and impressive chimeras with outstretched wings sculpted in high relief. Arranged as a console, these fantastical beings support the curved overhang of the upper balcony. On the second floor, the Louis XV-style balustrade is decorated with abundant coiled foliage, while the windows are punctuated by neoclassical pilasters or engaged columns. The dragons or chimeras in atlatls beneath a Parisian balcony recall the decorative vocabulary deployed from 1719 by architect Pierre Vigné de Vigny (1690-1772) at the Hôtel de Chenizot, now located at 51 and 53, rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île in the 4th arrondissement. The Hôtel Séguier, one of whose facades now faces 133, rue Saint-Antoine, in the same arrondissement, also received this type of fantastic sculptural decoration in 1728.