   Hector Guimard  Cri_240634 Zoom   Hector Guimard. Entrance
Gate to Paris Subway (Métropolitain) Station, Paris, France. c.
1900. Painted cast iron, glazed lava, and glass, 13' 11" x 17'
10" x 32" (424.2 x 543.6 x 81.3 cm) Each vertical stanchion:
1040 lbs. Horizontal component: 460 lbs. Glazed lava sign: 100
lbs. Gift of Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens  The Museum
of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, MoMA Highlights, p. 39  The
emergence of the Art Nouveau style toward the end of the
nineteenth century resulted from a search for a new aesthetic
that was not based on historical or classical models. The
sinuous, organic lines of Guimard's design and the stylized,
giant stalks drooping under the weight of what seem to be
swollen tropical flowers, but are actually amber glass lamps,
make this a quintessentially Art Nouveau piece. His designs for
this famous entrance arch and two others were intended to
visually enhance the experience of underground travel on the new
subway system for Paris.  Paris was not t