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| Eugene Bourdon, centre, will staff and students of the Architecture department at The Glasgow School of Art (GSA Archives and Collections) |
The GSA has announced today, 1 July 2016, that it will mark the contribution of Eugène Bourdon to the institution in a special exhibition later this year. The first ever Professor of Architectural Design at The Glasgow School of Art, Bourdon brought the Beaux Art system of architectural education from Paris to Glasgow. His archive of drawings and watercolours, correspondence and other material is held in GSA Archives and Collections and will form the basis of this first ever exhibition devoted to Bourdon. The announcement was made on the centenary of Bourdon’s death at Hardecourt-aux-Bois on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Eugène Bourdon: From the Classroom to the Battlefield will run in the Reid Building from 5 November – 4 December 2016.
“The Beaux Arts system of architectural education consists of giving the foremost place to the Study of Design. It is assumed, as a matter of course, that the architect must have a complete training as a practical builder and as a man of business, and that he must be a man of educationin a word, he must be a professional man. But these qualities, though necessary, are not sufficient to make an architect that is, an artist. Design is the proper function of the architect, and the training of young architects to design is the most important duty of architectural educators”
Eugène Bourdon
Eugène Bourdon was appointed as the first ever Professor of Architectural Design at The Glasgow School of Art in 2004 where he taught up until the outbreak of WWI. An architect and educator he was also a reservist in the French army and although 44 at the outbreak of WWI he answered the call to arms. By 2016 he had reached the rank of staff captain in the 78th Brigade, had twice been mentioned in Army Orders and was awarded the Croix de la Legion d'Honneur, the Croix de Guerre and the British Military Cross. Throughout his time on the Western Front he maintained a regular correspondence with the GSA even directing the teaching. He was among the almost 30,000 men killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
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Eugene Bourdon, Design for a Theatre (1894) GSA Archives and Collections |
The exhibition will showcase the Bourdon holdings in Archives and Collections of The Glasgow School of Art featuring some of the over 100 architectural drawings he produced in the 1890s, whilst he was a student of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, photographs and material from his time at the GSA and correspondence from the Western Front.
This will be the first ever exhibition dedicated to Bourdon and will highlight many of these previously unseen works.
Ends
Further information
Lesley Booth
07799414474
@GSofAMedia
Notes for Editors
- The building housing the Mackintosh School of Architecture is named after Bourdon and holds a bronze memorial to him.
- The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections holds a stained glass memorial to Bourdon by Robert Anning Bell. This is on display in the Window on Mackintosh Visitor Centre in the Reid Building.
EUGENE BOURDON
EugèneBourdon was born in Paris on 16 July 1870 and educated at the Condorcet Lycée, receiving the degree of Bachelier-des-lettres in 1888. He then spent eight years at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris studying the atelier, where he was awarded many medals and prizes.
After obtaining his diploma, Bourdon went on to employment in the French Government as an inspector for the Exposition Universelle. In 1900 Bourdon travelled to New York, but little is known or has been recorded about this time in the US.
Upon returning to France, Bourdon soon received his invitation from Glasgow to teach, and was later appointed the first Professor of Architectural Design at the new Glasgow School of Architecture in 1904. Steadily improving and expanding under his leadership, Bourdon's impact was widely recognised at GSA. The drawings in the collection date from Bourdon's time as a student, bringing them over with him as examples for GSA students.
He returned with enthusiastic patriotism to military duty for France in 1914. As Capitaine à l'État Major, Bourdon was soon in active service on the Western Front, but was killed in action at the Somme on the evening of 1st July 1916.
The exhibition will showcase the Bourdon holdings in Archives and Collections of The Glasgow School of Art featuring some of the over 100 architectural drawings he produced in the 1890s, whilst he was a student of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, photographs and material from his time at the GSA and correspondence from the Western Front. This will be the first ever exhibition dedicated to Bourdon and will highlight many of these previously unseen works.