"I saw Bourdelle again yesterday at the Tuileries salon during preparations. Nothing to be done given the circumstances, but his wife arrived and I confronted her – she told me that Bourdelle had started a long letter for you."
2.500€
Auguste PERRET (1874.1954)
A set of 9 autograph letters signed to his fellow architect Alfred Rome.
Seventeen pages in-8° – Engraved letterhead papers and envelopes.
Between July 1923 and November 1925.
"I saw Bourdelle again yesterday at the Tuileries salon."
An interesting and friendly correspondence between two fellow architects. Perret has just built the world's first reinforced concrete tower in Grenoble, his correspondent's hometown, and is overwhelmed by the ongoing work on the temporary theater for the Paris Exposition. Nevertheless, he offers his colleague his unwavering support in the Grenoble dispute between Perret and Pierre-André Farcy [curator of the city's museum], even going so far as to enlist the alliance and influence of their friend, the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle.
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I. July 2, 1923: "My dear colleague, Understood – see you Thursday for lunch – I will be at the Taverne du Dauphiné at 11:30."
II. July 14, 1923: "I am very late, dear friend, in thanking you once again for your very cordial welcome. Grenoble, which I knew well, has now taken on for me the charming appearance that its inhabitants know how to give it. Please convey my regards to Madame Rome, your best wishes to your children, and accept my warmest regards. Aug. Perret. Again, my compliments on your beautiful Marval and Flandrin collection."
III. February 27, 1925: "Dear colleague and friend, I received your telegram and letter. Please note that the frames must be multiples or submultiples of the wide-angle lens in length or width. Your frame would therefore be 0.375 meters high x 1.10 meters wide. We would prefer a photograph taken from an airplane to any drawing. You will have approximately 100 francs to pay. Date: April 15. Yours sincerely, Aug. Perret. I plan to go to Grenoble in the first few days of March."
IV. May 12, 1925: “Dear friend, I understand your impatience and I hasten to reply to your letter. I saw Bourdelle on Saturday evening and told him how moved I found you and your wife by the infamies of Monsieur Farcy [Pierre-André Farcy, known as Andry-Farcy, curator of the Grenoble museum] – he didn't mention writing to you, but when his wife arrived, I repeated what I had just said, and she spontaneously promised to remind Bourdelle of the letter he is supposed to write to you. I will see him again before the end of the week and I won't let him off the hook. Thank you for your good news and kind words about our Fort…”
V. May 14, 1925: “Dear friend, I saw Bourdelle again yesterday at the Tuileries salon, where he was preparing for the exhibition. Nothing to do given the circumstances, but his wife arrived and I confronted her – she told me that Bourdelle had started a long letter for you but couldn't finish it and quickly abandoned it, promising to start again immediately and to be brief [Bourdelle did send a letter of support to Rome in his conflict with Andry-Farcy, dated May 10, 1925]. Mrs. Bourdelle told me that in the meantime she would write to Mrs. Rome. I intend to go to Grenoble on the 21st, by train, unless the opening of the theater [the temporary theater for the Paris Exposition, which Perret was in charge of] is delayed, in which case I have time to go by car.” Until the pleasure of seeing you again, please accept, with my warmest regards to your family, the expression of my most cordial sentiments. Aug. Perret.
VI. May 17, 1925: “Dear friend, Madame Bourdelle, whom I saw yesterday before the opening of the Tuileries exhibition, told me that her husband had written to you and that the letter was sent that very morning (yesterday, Saturday). Did you receive it? Are you satisfied with it? [Indeed, Bourdelle did send a letter of support to Rome in his conflict with Andry-Farcy on May 10, 1925. Rome will reply, moved by his support.] This darn theater is preventing me from going to Grenoble without any trouble [The temporary theater for the Paris Exposition, which Perret was in charge of]. I will have to spend two nights on the train. Until next time, then, and with warmest regards. Yours affectionately, Aug. Perret.”
VII. June 26, 1925: “Dear friend, I received your letter. Bourdelle had already mentioned Farcy’s candidacy to me – during a conversation I had last night at a dinner at H. de Rothschild’s with one of the Louvre curators, I gathered that there were many people before him, but you should act quickly nonetheless – there are always possible surprises. Best regards and best wishes to you and your family. Aug. Perret. You will no doubt come to see the exhibition? When?”
VIII. July 21, 1925: “Dear friend, We have decided on the Grand Som. It is more expensive, but it is better than the altitude I wanted (900m). We will be there from August 5th, probably until the 25th. I am told that the Grenoble exhibition is lagging a bit – Could this be the reason why we haven't even received a reply from good Mr. Menly, from whom we are requesting money, or at least a refund of our deposit? I hope your son has fully recovered. Best regards and best wishes to you. Aug. Perret.”
IX. November 26, 1925: “Dear friend, I received your letter and Madame Rome’s card with the clipping about Citizen Farcy. I had dinner eight days ago at the publisher Morancé’s with Mr. Henri Verne, Director of the National Museums (he has just been appointed to replace D’Estournelles de Constant). I spoke to him about the fellow in question , and I assure you he now knows what to expect. You tell me that the Marquise de la Tour [the Perret Tower] is intact , but could you find out if the poor fellow fell on it? This is of interest to us from a calculation standpoint. Warmest regards to everyone and very cordially yours. Aug. Perret.”
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We are enclosing a four-page letter from Madame Perret to Madame Rome, dated July 7, 1925. Before asking her correspondent for holiday destinations in the Dauphiné region, Madame Perret confirms her support for the Romes in their conflict with Pierre-André Farcy: “…As for the infamous Farcy, I hope you have gained the upper hand and that this dangerous puppet will soon be brought to heel. You know, don’t you, that we are wholeheartedly with you…”
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The Perret Frères firm was one of the most important architectural practices of the first half of the 20th century, with an international reputation. The Perret brothers (Auguste, Gustave, and Claude) pursued the search for a new classicism, based on the use of reinforced concrete, of which Auguste was the leading French theorist. He was also a professor and workshop leader at the École des Beaux-Arts and the first president of the French Order of Architects in 1941.
Among their many achievements in France and abroad are villas, private mansions, apartment buildings, residences and artists' studios, industrial and administrative buildings, theaters, museums, chapels, churches… and above all the reconstruction, after the Second World War, between 1945 and 1960, of the city of Le Havre, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.