Alexandre Raymond

• Name — Alexandre Raymond • Born — 22 January 1872 • Birthplace — Constantinople, Ottoman Empire • Died — 16 May 1941 (aged 69) • Place of death — Nanterre, France • Occupation — Architect, artist, cartographer, writer, illustrator • Years Active — 1900–1940 • Notable Works — L'Art Islamique en Orient, La Basilique d'Ayia-Sophia de Constantinople, Théodora de Byzance (Islamic Art in the East, The Basilica of Ayia-Sophia of Constantinople, Theodora of Byzantium)

• Illustration — Plan of ancient and modern Constantinople drawn by Alexandre Raymond Alexandre Marc Raymond was born on 22 January 1872 in Constantinople, in Turkey, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He was the son of Marc Raymond, architect, born in Constantinople in 1846, and Rose Valsamaki, Greek Orthodox, born in Cephalonia. In 1894, he began studying at Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi (School of Fine Arts) in Constantinople where he was a student of Alexander Vallaury.

Between 1888 and 1892, Raymond traveled to ancient cities of Konya, Iznik, Bursa, Yenişehir and made drawings of Islamic architecture. From 1894, Raymond drew the blueprints for the Bursa Institute of Sericulture, an Ankara agency building – probably that of Régie de Tabac, and an Adapazarı agency building of Régie de Tabac. In 1908, he published L’Art de la Construction en Turquie (The Art of Construction in Turkey, in French), dealing with the construction market, material and labor conditions, and technical and legal arrangements in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. He partnered with his brother César who ran a bookshop, Librairie Raymond, where his written works were sold.

Alongside his incoming-generating activity as an architect, from the age of 16 (1888) until 50 (1922), Raymond travelled around the Ottoman Empire and created reproductions of religious monuments and adornments. He also produced several plans of Constantinople. • Illustration — Revue Technique d'Orient

Between 1914 and 1918, the First World War caused the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the ascent to power of the nationalist Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Turkey. Greece moved to action to overthrow Mustapha Kemal. The Greco-Turkish War broke out in 1919. The massacres of the Greek population living on Turkish soil compelled Raymond, whose Greek-born wife was threatened, to flee his native city for Europe.

Raymond arrived in Europe in 1922 and settled in Paris in 1927. He nonetheless retained links with the newly formed republic of Turkey, and prepared sketches for Turkey's projected participation in the 1925 International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.

• Illustration — L'Art Islamique en Orient 1 • Illustration — Portail du Mausolé de Tchélébi Sultan à Brousse (1421) • Illustration — Mirhrab de la Mosquée à Brousse • Illustration — Turbé du Sultan Sélim II • Illustration — Turbé du Sultan Mohamed 1 • Illustration — Portail de Geuk-Médréssé à Sivas dit Tchifté Minaret, • Illustration — Echraf-Zad Pacha Djami à Isnik (1619), In 1922, he worked on publishing the first book of his Islamic art reproductions, Alttürkishe Keramik or L’Art islamique en Orient – Première Partie (Islamic Art in the East – Part One, published in French). In 1923, with the financial backing of American millionaire Charles Crane, he commissioned the printing of L’Art islamique en Orient, Deuxième Partie (Fragments d’architecture religieuse et civile) (Islamic Art in the East, Part Two (Fragments of Religious and Civil Architecture)) and L’Art islamique en Orient, Troisième Partie (Islamic Art in the East, Part Three), published in French in Prague by the Printing House Schulz. • Illustration — Une ville célèbre l'Angora ou l'antique Acyre (A Famous city Angora or antique Acyra) book cover

In 1923, at the same time as publishing L’Art islamique, Raymond published a volume on the treasures of Turkey, Une ville célèbre, l’Angora ou l’antique Ancyre (A Famous City, Angora or Antique Ancyra) once again with Schulz. It also discusses the history of Ankara. This book is dedicated to the memory of Pierre Loti. The book was reviewed in a 1926 edition of Revue des études byzantines by L. Barral, who called it "abundantly but unevenly illustrated". He praised Raymond's plan of the town of Yeni-Chéir, and twelve plates of the Temple of Augustus and Rome, particularly two where Raymond had "attempted an interesting reconstruction of the same temple transformed into a church".

• Illustration — Cover of Faïences Décoratives de la Vieille Turquie (Decorative Faience in Ancient Turkey) 1927 Raymond published Faïences décoratives de la Vieille Turquie (Decorative Faience in Ancient Turkey) through the Paris publisher Albert Morancé; a little book that reproduced some of the plates from L'Art Islamique en Orient and introduced new ones.

• Illustration — Hagia Sophia – Perspective au Gynécée • Illustration — Hagia Sophia – Colonnes jumelées au gynecée • Illustration — Hagia Sophia – 1931 • Illustration — Hagia Sophia – La Coupole – Le Christ Pentocrator • Illustration — Hagia Sophia – Vue de l'intérieur • Illustration — Hagia Sophia – Reconstitution du Yéron Over the next two years, Raymond worked on a colossal project that he considered to be his life’s work: La Basilique de Sainte Sophie (Αγία Σοφία) de Constantinople (The Basilica of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople). This was published in 1933. He used his knowledge of the monument, the work and notes left by his father, the architect Marc Raymond, and a substantial number of photographs of the inside of the building. The undeniable originality of the drawings (ink, watercolour, gold-leaf and silver paintings) is that they represent Hagia Sophia before the Muslims covered it with lime mosaics. Only one drawing of Hagia Sophia, relating to the period when Alexandre Raymond took on his work, 1931, existed. The entire work totals some 88 representations of various sizes. The drawings are complemented by the text describing Hagia Sophia (Αγία Σοφία) written by Procopius of Caesarea, the anonymous text of the Holy Wisdom (also known as Holy Sophia, Divine Wisdom), and a historic and descriptive text from the author.

• Illustration — Les Saints-Apôtres – Fuite en Egypte dernière étape • Illustration — Les Saints-Apôtres – La Nativité • Illustration — Les Saints-Apôtres – Adoration des Mages • Illustration — Les Saints-Apôtres – Marie-Madeleine • Illustration — Les Saints-Apôtres – La Samaritaine Alexandre Raymond became interested in Christian art and developed a technique that required great rigour, which we could call “micro-mosaics”. By drawing from the texts written by Procopius of Caesarea, Constantine of Rhodes and Constantine Mazarius, he drew 35 representations of the Church of the Holy Apostles including a series of illustrations of the life of Jesus.

General Gouraud granted his patronage for an exhibition in the function hall of the town hall of the 13th district of Paris. The exhibition, Visions féeriques d’Orient (Fantasy Perspectives of the East), grouped together some 172 plates: 80 plates from the Basilique de Sainte-Sophie de Constantinople (Basilica of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople) and 92 plates from L'Art Islamique en Orient (Islamic Art in the East). Raymond’s name was not mentioned on the cover of the exhibition brochure.

Raymond created 55 plates grouped together under the title Essai de reconstitution de mosaïques byzantines (Attempt to reproduce Byzantine mosaics). He portrayed the most famous mosaics of Greek, Italian and Turkish churches. He used photographs that he divided into segments and then scale reproduced down to the finest detail; a technique that would much later be known as “micro-mosaics”.

• Illustration — Théodora Pursuing with mosaics, Raymond created 14 original illustrations of highlights of the life of Empress Theodora, his final work, which he completed on 12 March 1940.

• Illustration — The virgin, near an angel (detail) Raymond’s “micro-mosaics” evoked pointillism and the yet-to-come pixellation. Raymond worked with a plank of wood on his lap, a magnifying glass in one hand and a paintbrush or a dip pen in the other. He would cut the tip of the nib so he could reproduce the tesserae perfectly.

Raymond died in Nanterre, on 16 May 1941 at the age of 69. He is buried in the Gabriel Péri Communal Cemetery in Colombes.

• 1933, 10–30 June, Vision féériques d’Orient (Fantasy Perspectives of the East), Paris, town hall of 13th district • 1956, 26 May – June, Festival d’architecture et d’art monumental (Monument Architecture and Art Festival), Grand Palais, Paris. Exhibition of some originals from La Basilique de Sainte Sophie (Αγία Σοφία) de Constantinople (The Basilica of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople). • 1999, 2 September – 9 October, Yapı Kredi Cultural Centre, exhibition space of the Sermet Çifter Library, İstiklál Cad. 285, Beyoğlu, Turkey. Exhibition of originals from L’Art Islamique en Orient 1, 2 et 3 (Islamic Art in the East 1, 2 and 3). • 2021–2022, Exhibition at the Péra Museum – November 2021 – March 2022 – of several of his originals concerning Ayia-Sophia, Theodora and Constantinople (Istanbul).