A STAR IS REBORN
Aug 12, 2021
4 minutes
PHOTOGRAPHY: PATRICIA SCHWOERER
WRITER: AMY SERAFIN
When Paris’ iconic department store La Samaritaine closed in 2005 for safety reasons, it had clearly seen better days. It was once the place you went to buy a new broom, or to take visitors for a spectacular view of the Seine, but its art nouveau interior had aged into a state of permanent melancholy.
A salesman named Ernest Cognacq, with his wife Marie-Louise, opened a store on this spot in 1870. As it grew, the architect Frantz Jourdain convinced them to erect a new building that would bring ‘art into the street’. They inaugurated his light-filled, iron-framed art nouveau building in 1910, followed by Henri Sauvage’s
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days