Cret, Paul Philippe, 1876-1945. Paul Philippe Cret architectural records, 1823-1945 (bulk 1896-1945).
Title:
Paul Philippe Cret architectural records, 1823-1945 (bulk 1896-1945).
Cret's archives were donated to the Library of the University of Pennsylvania by John F. Harbeson, Cret's student and colleague, and a partner in his successor firm, Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson. The collection was later divided, and almost all the architectural drawings and project-related photographs were transferred to the Architectural Archives, together with a small amount of additional material. The archives, as received by the University Library, had been organized and, in many cases, annotated by Harbeson. Most of the materials transferred from the Library to the Architectural Archives had been mounted on large sheets of paperboard in groups of project-related drawings, photographs, and clippings, with annotations in Harbeson's handwriting. At the time of the transfer, the University Library retained all of Cret's correspondence, writings, and teaching files and nearly all personal materials. This collection is rich in Cret's sketches, renderings, and other design materials. Cret's student drawings and early competition renderings are a highlight of the collection. Of special note are renderings he made as a student in Paris, particularly "A Museum of Archaeology" and "Rendering of a Stair," and his oversized, elaborately rendered competition drawing for the Robert Fulton Memorial (with Albert Kelsey and Louis E. Jallade). These three drawings and several others in this collection were published in professional journals during Cret's lifetime. The earliest project materials are designs for a school, made ca. 1896 while Cret was employed in the office of Louis Rogniat, in Lyon. The latest is a design for a bridge in Philadelphia in the year of his death. Projects with numerous design drawings include the Washington Memorial Arch at Valley Forge, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the University of Texas, and a number of war memorials (including the Quentin Roosevelt Memorial and various memorials for the Pennsylvania Battle Monuments Commission and the American Battle Monuments Commission). The collection contains 132 student drawings, 47 watercolor paintings, 4 sketchbooks, and 453 sketches not related to specific architectural projects. Although nearly all the materials of personal or biographical nature were retained by the University Library, the collection contains photographic portraits, an oil portrait (by Carlo J. Ampaglia), diplomas and honors, photographs taken during World War I, watercolors by Cret's father-in-law, Oscar Lahalle, and a sketchbook (dated 1828) of Pierre Bernard (architect of Lyon, France, a member of Cret's extended family). Also useful for biographical research are Cret's sketches for interior alterations to his own residence in Philadelphia (1913, 1920). The collection contains no office files from Cret's firm, nor does it contain original construction drawings from his office. After John Harbeson's death, the firm withdrew from its archives and sold a large quantity of materials related to Cret's projects. These materials may be consulted at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Construction drawings in this collection were acquired by the Architectural Archives from other sources, including prints of Cret's Chemistry Building for the University of Pennsylvania, prints of the Pan American Union (with Albert Kelsey) and prints of the Hartford County Building. None of these is a complete set.
ArchivalResource:
Architectural drawings 2029 items : various media.Sketchbooks 5 v. (39 leaves)Photographs 382 photoprints, 1 photonegative.Clippings 155 items.Additional materials 1.5 cubic ft.
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