Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition CommissionLouisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
History
Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.)
Mr. Alfred Picard, special envoy of the French Republic; Mr. Georges
Gerald, commissioner-general; Mr. Jules Boeufvé, assistant
commissioner-general; Mr. Felix Lamy, secretary of the French
commission; Mr. Robert Delaunay-Belleville, private secretary to the
special envoy; Mr. Max Ferlaud, private secretary to the
commissioner-general; Mr. Emile Heurteau, private secretary to the
special envoy; Mr. Marcel Estieu, attaché; Mr. André Artoine, attaché.
French commercial section: Mr. Ancelot, president; Mr. Gustav Kester,
vice-president; Mr. Perdoux; Mr. Maurice Estieu, treasurer. Fine arts
section: Mr. André Saglio, commissioner; Mr. Horteloup; Mr. Delestre,
attaché.
The National Palace of France, as erected at the St. Louis World's Fair,
was a reproduction of the Grand Trianon, at Versailles. It was located
at the west end of the Louisiana way, one of the main avenues on the
fair grounds; at the other end of the avenue was located the United
States Government Building.
The French Pavilion consisted of three rectangular buildings bordering
on a main state court. Large pilasters of white and pink marble were
arranged as the frame work for high windows, topped with decorative
arches. An outside flight of stairs and porphyrolite sills of imitation
marble gave that impression of luxury and good taste which is
characteristic of all productions of the Louis XIV period.
Two large wrought-iron brackets supported lanterns in the same style and
gave a more animated appearance to the main entrance at the end of the
court. Part of the arch decorations were reserved for the entrances; the
balance of the arches used in the arrangement of windows with balcony
were fitted with wrought-iron balustrade railings, in the general style
of the palace.
Only one change was made in the otherwise exact reproduction of the
Grand Trianon. According to documents published in the seventeenth
century, and especially to the tentative drawings made by Lepautri
himself, the Grand Trianon architect, that monument was originally to be
decorated over its high balustrade railings with some artistic devices
and groups of children, each to be found in the present French monument.
The architects of the St. Louis Palace, Messrs. Gustave Umbdenstock and
Roger Bouvard, conceived the happy thought of making that restoration
complete, and thus contributing a more lifelike appearance to the whole
palace.
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