Chapter 2 : Flourishing in the quartier des beaux-arts

Gustave Sennelier had made a good choice in establishing his store on Quai Voltaire, a few blocks from the School of Beaux-Arts. For here, the best talents, who would become the future great names in art, developed their skills. The school was based originally in the chapel within the ancient Augustine convent that had been chosen by Catherine de Medici to shelter her collection. Founded in 1819, the school was at first reserved for the winners of the Prix de Rome competition, but later evolved into a place of instruction and learning when the building was enlarged through the purchase, by the state, of the Hôtel de Chimay, in 1883. Numerous artists set up their studios in the same neighborhood and discovered the Sennelier store close by. Even today, for the School of Beaux-Arts students, the Sennelier brand is the reference. “For the students who are always broke, the products were a bit expensive but they went to the shop anyway, enjoying the atmosphere and perhaps buying a ask of ink or a notebook or a particular color,” remembers Armelle Sennelier, married to Dominique, grandson of Gustave, representing the third generation at the head of the family enterprise. Armelle was herself a graduate of the Beaux-Arts, she worked on the visual branding of Sennelier products.

Today the store on 3 Quai Voltaire has hardly changed since 1887, which makes it unique. It still has the same furniture, the same shelves crowded with pigment bottles and the same brush displays.According to the P.Richard's Book