Architects and artists

Azéma Léon (1888-1978)

(Alignan-du-Vent (France) 1888-Épernay (France) 1978)

Graduated from the École nationale des beaux-arts in 1919, Azéma won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1921. The same year, he won the competition for the Cairo Courthouse with architects Jacques Hardy and Max Edrei. He is also appointed professor at the École nationale des beaux-arts while continuing to fulfill public commissions including the Douaumont ossuary in 1932. Appointed architect of the city of Paris, in charge of promenades and exhibitions, Azéma designs several gardens and pavilions. He is also appointed architect for the PTT, for which he designs a series of buildings in Paris and France, as well as architect for the RTF.

Bonnell Pierre (1850-1924)

(Saint-Paul de Fenouillet (France) 1850-Constantine (Algeria) ? 1924)

Mainly active in Constantine and its region, Bonnell serves as a road agent and then architect of the civil hospital and the Alsace-Lorraine orphanage between 1868 and 1882. From 1901, he is appointed supervisor of the diocesan works of the city. He is also an architect for the general government and designs projects in other regions of Algeria. He is an academic officer and officer of the Nicham Iftikar.

Clavería y de Palacios Narciso (1869-1935)

(Madrid (Spain) 1869-Madrid (Spain) 1935)

After his studies in his hometown, Narciso Clavería y Palacios, third Count of Manila, works in renowned architectural firms such as Juan Bautista Lázaro de Diego, on projects such as the Basilica of San Vicente de Paúl (1900-1904) and the College of San Diego y San Nicolás (1903-1906), both in Madrid.
It is possibly in the early 1910s that he assumes his role as architect for the Compañía de Ferrocarriles de Madrid, Zaragoza y Alicante (MZA). Notable from this professional stage are the architectural projects he designs for new railway stations, such as that of Toledo, inaugurated in 1920, the first in neo-Mudejar style in railway architecture, and the design of the Madrid Station in Linares (Jaén), completed in 1925. Specific stylistic elements have allowed this architect to be attributed to the central pavilion of the Aranjuez station (1920-1927) and the passenger building of the same period of the Algodor station, as well as the Casa Ciriaco in Yuncos (Toledo), today a town hall.

Moreover, Narciso Clavería, a great lover of photography and particularly architectural photography, would find in the city of Toledo a perfect field for this activity, especially during the two years of railway construction. We know of more than 200 images published in Toledo. Revista Semanal de Artebetween 1918 and 1931. Toledo was not the only object of curiosity for the architect-photographer, and good proof of this are the thousands of glass plates capturing other places in Spain, acquired by the Instituto del Patrimonio Español.

Combarel Edmond (1817-1869)

(Rodez (Francia) 1817-Algiers (Algeria) 1869)

Son of Denis Combarel, a lawyer and man of letters from Aveyron, Combarel trains in history painting at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and also takes courses at the School of Oriental Languages. In 1850, he is appointed holder of the public chair of Arabic in Oran and then, in 1869, in Algiers.

Cristóbal Juan (1898-1961)

(Ohanes, Almería (Spain) 1898-Madrid (Spain) 1961)

Juan Cristóbal González Quesada, Spanish sculptor, is known by his artist name, Juan Cristóbal. Connected to Granada since his childhood, it is there that he will present his first exhibition in 1913. The politician Natalio Rivas notices him and mentors him and facilitates his departure to Madrid. Benefiting from a grant from the City Council and the Province of Granada, Juan Cristóbal moves to Madrid where he begins his studies under sculptor Mariano Benlliure.

In 1917 he exhibits for the first time at the Ateneo de Madrid and soon his talents are recognized and his most important works are often awarded at official salons where he presents them. This is the case with the Second medal awarded to him at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1917 for his work Desnudo acquired by the State and transferred to the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno. From 1918, commissions and projects follow each other, which will ensure him financial stability. In 1920, at the Exposición Nacional de 1920, an award is given to him for the bronze group of the Monumento a Ángel Ganivet in Granada, part of the ensemble inaugurated in 1921 in the Alhambra forest, executed in a stylized realism and with nuanced symbolism. Another of his works, La noche, a figure of a woman in black marble, will earn him the First medal from the Nacional of 1922, and a few years later, Sibila, also in black marble, will be part of his submission to the 1926 exhibition.

In 1922 Juan Cristóbal is tasked with shaping the elephant head that serves as a bracket for the balcony of the Salto de El Carpio, work of architect Casto Fernández-Shaw.

In 1920, at the Exposición Nacional de 1920, an award is given to him for the bronze group of the Monumento a Ángel Ganivet in Granada, part of the ensemble inaugurated in 1921 in the Alhambra forest, executed in a stylized realism and with nuanced symbolism.

À l’Exposición Internacional de Bellas Artes de Barcelone de 1929, dans le cadre de la grande Exposition universelle de cette année-là, son bronze Maja, un nu de corps entier, remporte la Première médaille. Un autre franc succès était réservé un an auparavant à a demi figure de Cervantes pour le Cuerpo de Inválidos del Ejército, une œuvre en bois doré et peinte, très traditionnelle et moderne à la fois.
Ce sont les années où son large cercle d’amis se retrouve dans son studio. On y rencontre, entre autres, Ignacio Zuloaga, Julio Camba, Julio Romero de Torres, Rafael Penagos, Enrique de Mesa, Anselmo Miguel Nieto, Emiliano Barral, Lorenzo Domínguez, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, ou Casto Fernández-Shaw, cité plus haut.
Très présent dans la vie culturelle et artistique d’Espagne, Juan Cristóbal participe à d’innombrables hommages à des peintres et sculpteurs de son époque, à des évènements solidaires et à une infinité d’initiatives associées au monde des beaux-arts. En 1928, le Gouvernement de l’Union Soviétique l’invite à visiter le pays avec d’autres artistes et intellectuels reconnus. En 1933, il signe avec un groupe important de professionnels, d’écrivains et d’intellectuels espagnols le manifeste de l’association des Amis de l’Union Soviétique.

Après la guerre civile qu’il passe à Madrid, il continue à créer en révisant cependant certaines approches, esthétique et de représentation, auxquelles il s’opposait auparavant, avec ceux de sa génération : naturalisme, l’ébauchage, un certain caractère narratif et même une légère rhétorique du dix-neuvième. Il faut signaler le monumental Cid Campeador a caballo de la ville de Burgos, une commande de la Mairie en 1947, inauguré par Franco en juillet 1955.

Juan Cristóbal continue à faire des bustes et des têtes, presque tous des portraits, reflet de son grand cercle d’amis qui, comme avant la guerre, incluait bon nombre des principaux acteurs de la vie culturelle et sociale de Madrid. En 1958 la Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid lui consacre une exposition monographique.
Pendant les dernières années de sa vie, l’artiste ne ménage pas ses efforts pour acquérir, reconstruire et préserver l’ancien Palais de Villena, à Cadalso de los Vidrios (qu’il avait découvert en 1930) siège actuel du musée Juan Cristóbal qui conserve une partie représentative de l’œuvre de ce sculpteur singulier.

Fernández-Shaw e Yturralde Casto (1896-1978)

(Madrid (Spain) 1896-San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain) 1978)

Casto Fernández Shaw e Iturralde began studies in mining engineering at the Escuela de Minas before opting for architecture studies, where he earned his degree in 1919.
He began his professional career under his professor Antonio Palacios and, notably, with the Otamendi brothers in the Compañía Urbanizadora Metropolitana, beginnings that resulted in the Titanic buildings in Madrid.

In 1922, with engineer Carlos Mendoza, he completed the Salto del Carpio, earning him the Gold Medal in architecture at the International Exhibition of Decorative and Modern Industrial Arts in Paris (1925). Fascinated by the European avant-gardes, he went on to complete other dam projects in Andalusia (Alcalá del Río, El Encinarejo, Jándula), and the Porto Pí service station in Madrid (1927), which became a symbol of modernity in Spain.

Disappointed by the jury’s decision for the Madrid airport project, he turned to something else and founded the magazine Cortijos y Rascacielos (1930). He then joined functionalist currents without renouncing futurism. GATEPAC had his sympathies, although he did not join its ranks, and he accepted its rationalist canon. In 1931, following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, he embraced architectural modernity without taking a political stance, by carrying out various projects like the Coliseum in Madrid, with Art Deco influences.

During the Civil War, he visited the 1937 Paris Universal Exhibition and the Spanish pavilion designed by José Luis Sert, where he presented his Colon Lighthouse project to delegates for the next universal exhibition, in New York in 1939. He then left for London where his brother served as cultural attaché of the Republic. Back in Spain, he settled in Cadiz as curator of the La Carraca arsenal and as honorary engineer of the Navy. In 1939, he was appointed academic member of the Provincial Fine Arts Academy of Cádiz.

After the civil war, he divided his activity between Madrid, Andalusia, and Morocco (especially in Tetouan where he promoted the International Art Association), alternating between avant-garde and eclectic or historicist proposals, which he imbued with rationalist touches. In 1940, he became consulting architect for the Centro de Estudios y Proyectos of the Dirección de Construcciones e Industrias Navales, and a member of the Madrid Reconstruction Board (1940-1947).

Then, from 1941, he joined the Instituto Técnico de la Construcción y Edificación as a numerary member. Simultaneously, his pacifism enriched his work with a dream-like dimension: a new, visionary, and futuristic urban landscape appeared in response to the catastrophes of wars, subject to the laws of aerodynamics through models, projects, sketches, illustrations, etc., of what he called “aerostatic cities” or “armored cities” or also “aerial and anti-aircraft architectures.”

In 1951, he founded, with some young people, GEMA, Study Group of Modern Architecture. Alongside these professional activities, he encouraged the creation of the Society of Friends of Castles in 1952. Interested since his youth in the problems of underground urban parking, he launched, with his friend Juan Giber, the company ESPROGA (1959) and, in 1961, he received the gold medal at the International Salon of Inventors in Brussels for his radial garage of the same name.

The Order of Architects of Madrid has undertaken the preservation of the archives of Casto Fernández Shaw e Iturralde, recognized today as one of the most original voices in Spanish architecture of the 20^th century.

Iveković Ćiril Metod (1864-1933)

(Klanjec (Croatia) 1864-Zagreb (Croatia) 1933)

Born into a family of Croatian notables and intellectuals and brother of the painter Oton Iveković (1869-1939), Iveković is trained at the Polytechnic Institute and then at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

After his studies, he works in the office of Baron Karl von Hasenauer and then becomes the architect for the provincial government of Sarajevo, completing the Vijećnica (former town hall and currently the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina).

From 1896, Iveković is appointed architect in charge of religious buildings for the Dalmatian government in Zadar, where he leads numerous restoration projects of religious buildings. Also active as an archaeologist, conservator, restorer, and photographer, Iveković is a member of learned societies and heritage preservation associations.

After World War I, he becomes a professor of architecture at the technical high school in Zagreb and a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Lusson Antoine (1840-1876)

(Le Mans (France) 1840-1876 ?)

A stained glass artist active in the 19th century, Lusson starts in Le Mans in his father’s workshop “Antoine Lusson père.” After the latter’s death, he takes over the workshop with his brother-in-law Édouard Bourdon and creates stained glass windows for the cathedrals of Lyon, Paris, and Le Mans. Lusson moves to Paris from the 1860s.

Mantout Maurice (1886-1953)

(Algiers (Algeria) 1886-Paris (France) 1953)

Born into a Jewish family from Lorraine that settled in Algeria since the beginning of French colonization, Mantout is a student of the architect Henri Petit (Paris (France) 1856-Paris (France) 1926). Architect of the French Protectorate in Morocco from 1912 to 1922 and architect of the Society of Habous and Islamic Holy Places, he is responsible for the design and execution, in collaboration with Robert Fournez, of the Muslim Institute and the mosque of Paris (1922-1926); then, in collaboration with Léon Azéma, of the Franco-Muslim hospital in Bobigny (1931-1935).
Winner of the Prix Lheureux of the city of Paris (1925) and the Bailly prize from the Academy of Fine Arts, Mantout is a knight of the Legion of Honor, officer of the Ouissiam Allaouite, and commander of the Nicham Iftikar.

Marquant Pierre-Adhémar known as Marquant-Vogel (1827-1903)

(Caurel (France) 1827-Dieppe (France) 1903)

Painter and stained glass artist, Marquant-Voget is active in Reims and Paris. He is a member of the archaeological commission of Reims.

Pařik Karel (1857-1942)

(Veliš u Jičína (Czechia) 1857-Sarajevo (Bosnia and-Herzegovina) 1942)

Of Czech origin, the architect Karel Pařik is active in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina from the 1880s. In Sarajevo, where he works, he is the author of numerous public buildings including the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Theater, the Ashkenazi Synagogue, the Vijećnica, or the Sharia School.

Pascual Martínez Julio (1879-1967)

(Toledo (Spain) 1879-Toledo (Spain) 1967)
Julio Pascual, son of a family of dyers, began his drawing studies under the guidance of the painter José Vera and soon his dexterity allowed him to enter the Escuela de Artes. He began his apprenticeship in blacksmithing at twenty-three years old, under the master Vivente González. Very quickly, Pascual became a master dominating the techniques of embossing and chiseling. Becoming a professor of metalwork at the Escuela de Artes y Oficiales Industriales de Toledo, he taught the techniques of blacksmithing, embossing, and enameling learned in the workshops of the Fábrica de Armas.
In 1906, at 25 years old, Pascual left his job at the Fábrica de Armas and set up his own blacksmithing workshop at his home, at 10 San Juan de la Penitencia Street. At this time, he had already received two Military Merit Crosses (1904) and a medal from the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1906, followed by another medal two years later.
During the 1920s, his work would earn the Silver Medal at the International Exhibition of Philadelphia in 1926 and he would be named a knight of the Order of Civil Merit of Alphonse XII (1929). His workshop was visited by high-profile figures such as King Alphonse XIII, Queen Marie of Romania, and Infanta Isabel, among others.
In 1930, Julio Pascual won the first Prize of the National Contest of Decorative Arts; in 1940 the Provincial Craftsmanship Award (1940) and in 1952 the Encomienda de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio was bestowed upon him.
Considered the last great European blacksmith, a direct heir to old techniques from masters like Juan Francés, Domingo de Céspedes, and Francisco de Villalpando, Julio Pascual founded a prestigious workshop in Toledo where numerous disciples would be trained. His works, recognized internationally, are found all over the world, but the most significant part is in Toledo. Among his most important works should be noted the blacksmithing of the train station and the school of arts, the gate of the Mosque of Cristo de la Luz, the gates of the hermitage of Valle, or the tabernacle and lamps of the church of Santo Tomé.
Furthermore, Julio Pascual is cited and recognized for highly delicate interventions in his hometown. This is the case with the reconstruction in 1939 of the Arfe Monstrance from the cathedral, dismantled during the Civil War; the recovery of the small sculpture of the Resurrected Christ by El Greco, which was in pieces at the Tevera Hospital in 1936, or the restoration of the monumental gates of the convent of San Juan de la Penitencia, consumed by flames during the Civil War.
Recently, many works of the artist have been identified on the peninsula. This is the case of the blacksmithing of the mausoleum of his friend Manuel de Falla in the Cathedral of Cadiz or a superb gate of the Collegiate Church of Saint Isidore in León.
In 1919, Julio Pascual became a numerary member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo and read a speech titled La Rejería Toledana. He would always remain close to the institution and would serve as its director for two long decades. In 1968, the city council of Toledo posthumously awarded him the Silver Medal of the city.

Pucciarelli Almo (?-1951?)

( ?-Sfax (Tunisia) 1951?)
Italian entrepreneur, Pucciarelli is based in Sfax and active in Tunisia.

Simon Pierre-Paul (1853-1917)

(Reims (France) 1853-? 1917) 1917)

Son of a painting contractor, the artist painter Simon is active in Reims and in the Marne region.

Stiassny Wilhelm (1842-1910)

(Presbourg (Slovakia) 1842-Bad Ischl (Austria) 1910)
Austrian architect of Jewish origin, Stiassny studies at the Technical University of Vienna, then at the Academy of Fine Arts where he graduates in 1867. He settles in Vienna where he lives and works until his death. He is also the author of numerous synagogues built in neo-Moorish style among which are the synagogue of Gablonz (1891-1892) and the synagogue of Leopoldsgasse both destroyed in 1938 during the Night of Broken Glass as well as the synagogue of Stanisławów in Galicia (1894-1899) and the Jubilee Synagogue of Prague (1904-1906).

Toudoire Marius (1852-1922)

(Toulon (Francia) 1852-Paris (Francia) 1922)
Graduate of the École nationale des beaux-arts of Paris in 1879, Toudoire holds the position of architect for the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean Company, for which he notably designs the Gare de Lyon in Paris and the Oran station, as well as those of inspector of civil buildings and national palaces, advisory architect of the Southern Railway Company and architect of the national palaces of the national factories at the 1900 Exposition for which he is named Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1900.

Vagny Alexis (1821-1888)

(Châlons-en-Champagne (France) 1821-Châlons-en-Champagne (France) 1888)

Actif dans la ville de Châlons-sur-Marne (actuellement Châlons-en-Champagne) où il exerce toute sa carrière en tant qu’architecte de la ville, Vagny est également inspecteur des édifices diocésains de Châlons et membre de la commission des bâtiments civils de la Marne à partir de 1861. Il est par ailleurs, capitaine, commandant la compagnie de sapeurs-pompiers de Châlons à partir de 1852.

Wittek Alexandar (1852-1894)

(Sisak (Croatia) 1852-Graz (Austria) 1894)

Active in Bosnia-Herzegovina is the author in Sarajevo of the Vijećnica (former city hall and currently the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina). He is also a chess player ranked in tournaments in Germany and Austria.
Suffering from mental disorders, he dies in the mental asylum of Graz.

Saladin Henri (1851-1923)

(Bolbec (France) 1851-Paris (France) 1923)