Victor Louis

He was born Louis-Nicolas Louis in Paris.^[2] He did not adopt the name Victor until after he returned from a trip to Poland in 1765.^[3] In 1770 he married the pianist and composer Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon. They had a daughter, Marie-Hélène-Victoire, in 1774.^[4] A full biography of Victor Louis was published by Charles Marionneau in Bordeaux in 1881.^[5]

Louis' masterpiece is the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux of 1780.^[6] He also designed other theatres, including the Salle Richelieu on the rue de Richelieu (1790, later to become the home of the Comédie-Française) and the Théâtre National de la rue de la Loi (1793, demolished).^[7] The Salle Richelieu was the first major building with a roof structure of iron which was selected for its fire-resistant qualities when compared with wood.^[8][9] Other buildings include the Intendance in Besançon (completed 1776), the garden galleries of the Palais-RoyalinParis (1781–1784), the Salle de Beaujolais (1782–83), and the Château du Bouilh near Bordeaux (1786–1789, unfinished).^[10][11]

•  
  Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux
•  
  Plan of the Théâtre de Bordeaux
  (at the level of the second loges)
•  
  Central staircase of the Théâtre de Bordeaux
•  
  Salle Richelieu
  (as designed by Louis)
•  
  Auditorium of the Salle Richelieu
  (as designed by Louis)
•  
  Intendance, Besançon (garden facade)
•  
  Design for the garden galleries of the Palais-Royal
•  
  Perspective view of the garden galleries of the Palais-Royal
•  
  Château of Le Bouilh
•  
  Auditorium of the Théâtre-National
•  
  Architectural drawings of the Théâtre-National

• Ayers, Andrew (2004). The Architecture of Paris. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. ISBN 9783930698967.
• Braham, Allan (1980). The Architecture of the French Enlightenment. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520067394.
• Croizier, Laurent; Bourrousse, Luc (2011). The Grand-Théâtre of Bordeaux. Bordeaux: Festin. ISBN 9782360620401.
• Fletcher, Banister (1961). A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, 17th edition, edited by R. A. Cordingley. London: The Athlone Press. OCLC 561038671. 1963 reprint: OCLC 859646659. CopyatInternet Archive.
• John, Richard (1998). "Louis, Victor [Louis-Nicolas]" in Turner 1998, vol. 19, pp. 725–726.
• Lacouture, Jean (1994). Le Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux, ou L’Opéra des Vendanges, photographs by Dominique Thillard. Paris: Caisse nationale des monuments historiques et des sites. ISBN 9782858221257.
• Marionneau, Charles (1881). Victor Louis, Architecte du Théâtre de Bordeaux: Sa vie, ses travaux et sa correspondance 1731–1800. Bordeaux: G. Gounouilhou ViewatGoogle Books..
• Prudent, Henri; Guadet, Paul (1903). Les salles de spectacle construites par Victor Louis à Bordeaux, au Palais-Royal et à la place Louvois. Paris: Librairie de la construction moderne. OCLC 7065687.
• Turner, Jane, editor (1998). The Dictionary of Art, reprinted with minor corrections, 34 volumes. New York: Grove. ISBN 9781884446009.