Interview

Q: Hi Charles, how are you today.

CG: Just fine thank you.

Q: So,what events in your early life made you get interested in the arts?

CG: I don’t share this with many people, growing up my father wanted me
to
follow in his footsteps and become a wheelwright like him. But I wasn’t
healthy and my mother forbade it. My mother enrolled me Ecole Royale des
Beaux- Arts in Paris where I took mathematics. My mother hoped  I would
get
good enough to become a surveyor but I became much more.
After completing my studies in architecture at the Ecole Royale des
Beaux-Arts I went to the academy in Rome for five years. Roman pageantry
inspired me greatly. I aimed to design buildings that showed the drama
of
pageantry.

Q: What role did mentors play in helping you develop the interests and
talents you have as an artist?

CG: The only mentor that really played a major role in my interests and
talents is my mother. If she hadn’t of forbade me from working as a
wheelwright, why, I probably wouldn’t have lived very long. The only
reason
I got into architecture was because of my studies in mathematics.
Though, I
don’t quite remember what it was exactly that got me into architecture.

Q: What was the world of art like in your particular art field when you
entered it?

CG: I don’t know much about the world outside of Europe but the style I
designed the Paris Opera House with was quite popular during Napoleon
III’s
Second Empire. Neobarouqe was the most popular art style when I entered
the
arts. I also added a touch of roman pageantry to most of my works.

Q: How did major cultural, economic and political situations of the time
impact your work?

CG: I based my best work upon Napoleon III’s favorite style. The Paris
Opera
House was commissioned by him so I attuned myself to his likings. I
wasn’t
very much into politics or economics but I know the country had large
sum of
money at the time. Which most likely explains for how they were able to
pay
for the Paris Opera House. But like I have said before Roman Pageantry
influenced me greatly.

Q: What were your major accomplishments and the methods you used in your
art?

CG: My most major accomplishment was the Paris Opera House. Another one
of
my achievements is the Casino de Monte Carlo. As for my methods I, once
again, used Roman pageantry and neobarouqe in most of my works.

Q: What were the key opportunities you had that led to turning points in
your life and art?

CG:  My first key opportunity was the contest for the design of the
Paris
Opera House. Without that contest I may not have been what I was today.

Q: What personal choices did you make to become successful?

CG: I chose to get into architect, which in the end led to my success.

Q: What hardships or road blocks did you run into as both an artist and
a
person?

CG: I didn’t run into many hardships as an artist. However, as a person
I
ran into many. Coming from a poor family made it hard to cope with daily
life in my younger years. Nowadays I don’t have to deal with such
hardships.

Q: What kind of limitations did you run into as both an artist and a
person?

CG: I never really ran into any limitations that I noticed.

Q: What personal stories (anecdotes) best illustrate how you became
successful in the arts?

CG: My life story would best describe how I became successful in the
arts.
There isn’t any individual story of my success.

Bibliograp
hy
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