After the call for projects launched on January 28, 2025 for the valuation of the Mezzara hotel (Paris 16ᵉ), the State retained the creation of a Guimard museum in this Art Nouveau residence, erected in 1910 by the architect at 60, rue Jean-de-la-Fontaine. Long used as boarding school by national education, the house retains an important decor of origin.
The validated file is the fruit of a campaign of more than ten years carried out by the Circle Guimard. After considering the sale of the building, the State finally adopted the museum solution proposed by the association, supported since 2019 by the entrepreneur Fabien Choné. Several consultations had failed in 2021 and 2023, due to the lack of specifications compatible with the desired model; The one published in 2025 made it possible to achieve the project.
The project brings together the Circle Guimard (scientific management, archive and edition center), the companies Fabelsi and Hector Guimard Diffusion (management and exploitation), and benefits from the support of partner museums such as the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris or the Horta Museum in Brussels. The renovation, funded by Fabelsi and the Territorial Bank, represents an investment of 6 million euros (roof, networks, accessibility).
The envisaged route will include thematic rooms (ornamental fonts, metro mouths, Guimard workshop, Castel Béranger), “Period Rooms” recreating the atmosphere of the Belle Époque, a coffee overlooking the garden and a virtual reality space devoted to the disappeared works according to Fabien Choné. Temporary exhibitions are also planned.
The collections are mostly made up of furniture and integrated decorations from the Mezzara hotel, state property; as well as pieces and archives of the Circle Guimard, intended in particular for the creation of models; works loaned by Fabien Choné and by private collectors; and objects deposited by partner institutions.
The museum will offer re -editions supervised by elements designed by Guimard (stained glass, wallpapers, cast iron, hardware store), following an economic model similar to that adopted by the Rodin museum or by the Museum of Decorative Arts. They will be labeled by the Circle Guimard, said Nicolas Horiot, president of the association, in the Journal des Arts.
Hector Guimard (1867-1942), a graduate of the School of Decorative Arts, is associated with Art Nouveau Parisien, in particular thanks to the famous metro edicts. The Mezzara hotel is among its major achievements.
In France, other establishments devoted to Art Nouveau already exist, such as the Nancy School Museum and the Villa Majorelle. The Nancy museum, which retains works by Guimard, supports the Parisian project.
The opening of the museum is announced for the end of 2027 or early 2028, after work scheduled from the end of 2026. The entry price should be between 15 and 20 euros. Fabien Choné and the Circle Guimard announce that they could donate all of their collections at the end of the emphyteutic lease if the state noted the viability of the museum and decided to perpetuate it, they said to Journal des Arts.
