Death Anniversary: Hector Guimard — May 20, 1942

Hector Guimard died in New York on 20 May 1942, where he had taken refuge in 1938 with his Jewish wife to escape the persecutions in Europe. He died far away and almost forgotten, at a time that judged his Art Nouveau to be finished. Many of his Métro entrances were dismantled; those that survive are protected monuments today. The anniversary marks that rediscovery: from an unfashionable style to one of the best-loved symbols of Paris.