Gustave Eiffel
Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle is a gilded bronze bust representing Gustave Eiffel and installed at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It was made by Antoine Bourdelle and placed on a stone stele designed by Auguste Perret and André Granet. The monument was erected at the initiative of General Ferrié, who headed the committee created after Eiffel’s death to organize a monument in his honor. Its dates vary in the sources, but the inauguration took place in the presence of Eiffel’s children and grandchildren. The unveiling marked an important step in the restoration of Eiffel’s reputation after his death.
July 2012 © Reubentg · CC BY-SA 3.0
October 2011 © Antoine Bourdelle · CC0
June 2014 © Wouter Engler · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Agence Rol. Agence photographique (commanditaire) · Public domain
May 1929 © Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
Identification | |
| Title | Gustave Eiffel |
| Type | Bust portrait monument |
| Subject | Gustave Eiffel |
Creator | |
| Sculptor | Antoine Bourdelle |
Discovery and provenance | |
| Initiative | At the initiative of General Ferrié |
| Committee responsible | Committee for the Eiffel monument |
| Committee president | General Ferrié |
| Committee members | Director of the National Meteorology Office; Henri Deslandres; Admiral Fournier; Léon Gaumont; Charles Édouard Guillaume; Gabriel Thomas |
| City Council authorization | Granted by the Paris City Council to erect the monument at the foot of the Eiffel Tower |
Physical characteristics | |
| Material | Gilded bronze |
| Height | Not specified in the fragment |
| Base | Stone stele |
| Inscription on base | Simply engraved; exact text not provided |
| Pedestal designer | Auguste Perret, with the collaboration of André Granet |
Location and ownership | |
| Placed on | Esplanade of the Tour Eiffel Workers |
| Location | At the foot of the north pillar of the Eiffel Tower, on the Champ de Mars, Paris |
History and restoration | |
| Date of creation | Circa; exact date not specified in the fragment |
| Installation date | 1929 |
| Alternative dating | Some sources date the bust to 1914; another source dates it to 1919 |
| Inauguration | Date not specified in the fragment |
| Inauguration attendees | Children and grandchildren of Eiffel |
| Inauguration speakers | General Ferrié; Louis Germain-Martin; Léon Guillet; Georges Lemarchand |
Historical context | |
| Historical significance | The inauguration marked the beginning of the rehabilitation of Eiffel's memory six years after his death |
| Context of Eiffel's reputation | His image had been tarnished by a prison sentence in the Panama scandal, though the conviction was later overturned by the Court of Cassation |
| Centenary commemoration | The monument was commemorated for the centenary of Gustave Eiffel's birth |
| Related earlier bust | A bust by Léopold Bernstamm for the 1900 Exposition Universelle is mentioned as the only other known bust of Eiffel at the time |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Comparative anecdote | Eiffel's heirs feared Bourdelle, working from a daguerreotype, would not equal Bernstamm, who worked from a live model; they were ultimately delighted and judged Bourdelle's work far superior |
| Louis Germain-Martin's speech topic | The Eiffel Tower's use for TSF and related postal, telegraph, and telephone services |
| Léon Guillet's role | Director of the École Centrale Paris, from which Eiffel had graduated |
| Georges Lemarchand's role | President of the Paris City Council |
Other | |
| Photographic documentation | Appears in a photograph by Thérèse Bonney conserved at the Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris and the Cooper Hewitt Museum; appears in a photograph by Henri Lacheroy; the monument was also photographed by the Rol agency |