ALEXANDRE BAILLY (1866-1947)
French draftsman, painter and decorator.
Born in the 11th arrondissement of Paris on December 14, 1866. He studied in the studios of Auguste Rubé (1817-1899) and Philippe Chaperon (1823-1906). In 1894, at the age of eighteen, he joined the studio of Marcel Jambon (1848-1908), a Parisian decorator, whom he became the son-in-law by marrying his daughter Louise Suzanne Jambon, in Paris on May 29, 1894. The workshop, located in the nineteenth arrondissement of Paris at 73 rue de Secretant, will realize many sets for the biggest Parisian theaters including: the Opera from 1895 (with notably Fredegonde, and Esclarmonde until 1923, La Burgonde by Paul Vidal in 1898), the Opéra-Comique from 1903 to 1924, the Comédie Française, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Ambigu, the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, the Bouffes-Parisiennes, the Vaudeville, the Sarah Bernhardt Theater, the Odeon, the Theater of the Porte Saint-Martin, the Antoine Theater, the Theater du Gymnase. With Marcel Jambon, Alexandre Bailly will decorate famous plays and operas such as Ariane, the Twilight of the Gods, Hamlet, Roma, Tristan and Isolde, Armida, Astarte, the Barbarians, Carillonneur, Daria, The Stranger, Faust, Fredegonde , Gretna Green, Hansli the hunchback, Helle, the Alder Lake, Messidor, the Miracle, Paillasse, the Capture of Troy, the Round of the Seasons, the Spell, the Brief Life. will also work for the theater of the Count of Clermont-Tonnerre, for companies such as Wagons-beds, private clubs including sports and for public monuments such as the arena of Beziers. He travels extensively throughout the world including Europe, India, Turkey, Egypt, Siberia and Russia, Japan and China. He participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1900 by producing a panorama on the theme of Chinese trans-Siberian. In the 1920s, he joined forces with Henri Niépce and created sets for silent cinema. From 1908, after the death of Marcel Jambon, Alexandre Bailly assumes sole direction of the workshop.