Heritage

The Fondation des États-Unis was established thanks to Ambassador Myron Timothy Herrick, who in 1925 brought together American universities and numerous donors, notably the American couple Mabel Knowles Gage and her husband, the surgeon Homer Gage. The Fondation was inaugurated in April 1930 in the presence of its founders, the Gage couple, the United States Ambassador Walter Evans Edge, and Gaston Doumergue, President of the French Republic. The residence was originally intended to provide accommodation for American students and researchers in Paris.

Since 1930, the Fondation has administered the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, awarded each year to several American artists and musicians staying in Paris, as well as to a psychiatry intern of American, French, or Swiss nationality.

The Fondation holds the status of a foundation recognized as being of public utility. Its Board of Directors is chaired by the Rector of the Île-de-France academic region, Rector of the Paris Academy.

Designed by architect Pierre Émile Leprince-Ringuet, the Fondation des États-Unis remains a living witness to the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, of which it is one of the largest and oldest residences. Combining an Art Deco style that was resolutely modern at the time with innovative architectural features, the FEU stands out for its forward-looking design.

From its inception, the building integrated spaces for living, working, and creation, including an entire floor dedicated to artists’ studios. This unique conception reflects the founders’ desire to bring art, education, and everyday life into dialogue, while also offering women access to higher education at a pioneering moment in history.

Véritable témoignage de l’Art déco des années 1930, la Fondation des États-Unis se distingue par sa monumentalité, ses lignes géométriques, ses briques colorées et sa riche ornementation. Sa façade arbore les armoiries des États-Unis, tandis qu’à son seuil, un pygargue américain en mosaïque accueille les visiteurs (gardien silencieux d’un dialogue ininterrompu entre deux continents). Chaque pierre, chaque détail a été pensé pour incarner l’amitié entre la France et les États-Unis. Le sculpteur Marcel Gaumont y a gravé dans la pierre les échos de Notre-Dame de Paris et du Woolworth Building de New York, symboles conjugués d’une tradition européenne solidement ancrée et d’une modernité américaine audacieuse.

The Grand Salon forms the heritage heart of the Fondation des États-Unis. The Art Deco period also marked a pivotal moment in architectural ornamentation, increasingly influenced by a machine-age aesthetic characterized by relative simplicity, flat surfaces, symmetry, and the repetition of elements. The staircase of the Fondation des États-Unis, as well as the ironwork of the balconies and balustrades, clearly reflect this aesthetic shift.

The Grand Salon is adorned with six exceptional frescoes created by Robert La Montagne Saint-Hubert, a Franco-American painter, assisted by Ethel Wallace and James Newell. Rediscovered in the 1990s, these works were restored by experts from the Musée du Louvre with the support of the Fondation Florence Gould, and were subsequently listed as a historic monument in 2009. These frescoes enhance the subtle elegance of Art Deco and Art Nouveau that defines the spirit of the space.

Originally, eight frescoes formed three thematic cycles. Two frescoes, now lost and once located in the entrance hall, celebrated Franco-American friendship through figures of George Washington and La Fayette, between Paris and New York. Accidentally destroyed in 1961, they are known today through archival records and contemporary descriptions.
The Greek City is a cycle that exalts humanist values through sport, music, and the arts. The Four Ages of French Art, displayed on the north wall of the Grand Salon, illustrate major periods of French artistic history:

1. Gothic, centered on Notre-Dame de Paris;

2. Early Renaissance, featuring The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry;

3. High Renaissance, focused on the Château de Chambord;

4. Classical period, with Versailles, Voltaire, and Watteau (a well-known anecdote reveals that Mabel Gage appears under the features of Marie Antoinette).