Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light
25/10/2012.
MoMA. [NY] U.S.A. 10/03/2013 - 24/06/2013
metalocus, PEDRO NAVARRO
metalocus, PEDRO NAVARRO
Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light will be the first solo exhibition of Labrouste's work in the United States to date and will highlight his work as a milestone in the evolution of modern architecture. The exhibition will be on view from March 10 to June 24, 2013, in the Special Exhibitions Gallery, and include over 200 works, from original drawings—many of them watercolors of haunting beauty and precision—to vintage and modern photographs, films, architectural models, and fragments.
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, 1854-1875. View of the reading room. Photography © Georges Fessy. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 1838-1850. View of the reading room. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Photography © Michel Nguyen. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 1838-1850. Steel trusses of the reading room. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Photography © Priscille Leroy. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Imaginary reconstruction of an ancient city. Perspective view. Date unknown. Graphite, pen, ink and watercolor on paper. Académie d’Architecture, Paris. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (1801-1875). Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 1838-1850. Southwest corner: elevation and section. Late 1850. Pen, ink, graphite, wash and watercolor on paper. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Project for a cenotaph in memory of La Pérouse. Main elevation. 1829. Pen, ink and wash on paper mounted on canvas. Académie d’Architecture, Paris. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Tomb of Caecilia Metella on the Appian Way, Rome. Details of the frieze and profile of the entablature. 1825-1830. Pen, ink, wash and watercolor highlights on paper. Académie d’Architecture, Paris. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). The Pantheon, Rome. Capital and base of a column of the portico. 1825-1830. Pen, ink, graphite and watercolor on paper. Académie d’Architecture, Paris. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste (1801-1875). Etruscan tomb, known as delle Bighe, Corneto (nowadays Tarquinia). Plan of the ceiling and elevation of the back wall. 1829. Pen, ink and watercolor on paper. Cliché Bibliothèque nationale de France. Courtesy of MoMA.
Julien Guadet (1834-1908). New Central Post Office (today Central Post Office) of the rue du Louvre, Paris, 1880-1886. Elevation of the main façade, July 13th 1880. Pen, ink and watercolor on paper. Paris, Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine Centre d’archives d’architecture du XXe siècle. © CNAM/SIAF/CAPA/ Archives du XXe siècle. Courtesy of MoMA.
Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light is currently on view at the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine, Paris, from October 11, 2012, to January 7, 2013. The exhibition is organized by Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, MoMA; Corinne Bélier, chief curator, Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine; and Marc Le Cœur, art historian, Bibliothèque nationale de France, département des Estampes et de la photographie. Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light is presented by MoMA, the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, with the participation of the Académie d'architecture and the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève.
Works by an international array of architects, such as Labrouste’s pupils in France, Spain, the Netherlands, Peru, and the United States, and projects with more distant resonances by architects such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Richard Rogers, will also be featured. The exhibition is organized by Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art.
Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light
March 10–June 24, 2013
Special Exhibitions Gallery, third floor
More information
Henri Labrouste
Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875) had dramatic impact on 19th-century architecture through explorations of new paradigms of space, materials, and luminosity in unprecedented places of great public assembly. His two magisterial glass-and-iron reading rooms in two Parisian libraries, the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève (1838-50) and the Bibliothèque nationale (1859-75), gave form to the idea of the modern library as a machine for knowledge and a space for contemplation. Labrouste also sought a redefinition of architecture by introducing new materials and new building technologies. His spaces are as overwhelming in the daring modernity of their exposed metal frameworks, thin masonry walls, new mechanical systems, and stunning luminosity as they are immersive and timeless.
