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Origin and history

The metro entrance to the Quatre-Septembre station, located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, was designed in 1900 by the architect Hector Guimard (1867-1942), major figure of Art Nouveau. This monument is part of a series of 167 accesses ordered by the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris (CMP) for the first line of the metro, inaugurated during the Universal Exhibition of 1900. Guimard, although not a winner of the initial competition, was chosen for his daring style combining iron, cast iron, glass and enamelled lava, breaking with the proposals deemed too conventional by his competitors.

The Guimard entrances are distinguished by their covered edicles or their entourages in carved cast iron, decorated with "Metropolitan" signs and slender candelabras evoking muguet strands. The model of the Quatre-Septembre station, like the majority of the achievements, shows simple entourages: a cast iron balustrade framed with two candelabras supporting an enamelled plate. These structures, designed to be modular and reproducible, mark an aesthetic break with ambient academicism, while meeting technical and economic imperatives.

As soon as they were installed, Guimard's creations generated controversy. Critiqued for their style considered too exuberant or their grey green associated with German uniform, these accesses become symbols of modernity. After 1913, the CMP gradually abandoned the Guimard models in favour of more sober designs, such as those of Adolphe Dervaux in the 1920s. Despite their decline, the remaining entrances, including that of Quatre-Septembre, were protected as historic monuments from 1965 and restored in the 1990s to preserve their authenticity.

The entrance to Quatre-Septembre, located at the corner of the streets of Quatre-Septembre, Monsigny and Choiseul, is inscribed in the Historic Monuments by order of 12 February 2016. It illustrates Guimard's legacy, whose works, once threatened with destruction, are now celebrated as icons of the Parisian landscape. These structures, both functional and artistic, bear witness to a time when art and industry sought to reconcile, while marking the advent of a new urban mode of transport.

Beyond their practical role, the Guimard entrances inspired artists, filmmakers (such as Louis Malle in Zazie on the metro) and comic book authors (Jacques Tardi, Enki Bilal). Their aesthetics, mixing vegetal curves and geometric patterns, transcended borders: some pieces were exported to foreign museums (such as the MoMA in New York), while reproductions today adorn places like the casino Paris Las Vegas. These achievements, although reduced to a hundred copies of the 167 originals, remain major witnesses of the Belle Époque and Art Nouveau.

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