[5] Between 1880 and 1910, Jourdain was at the forefront of the movement to renew and synthesize the arts, and played an important role in introducing new ideas.

He discovered unknown painters of the late 19th century and was a great admirer of the Galerie des machines of the Exposition Universelle (1889), designed by Ferdinand Dutert and Victor Contamin.

[1] He was hostile to institutions such as the Beaux-Arts, which stifled new talent, and thought the Prix de Rome which sent artists to the Villa Medici to study the well-known antiquities was a waste of time.

[6] La Samaritaine, a department store, was founded by Ernest Cognacq in 1870 when he leased a small part of a building for commercial use.

Jourdain was given the job of creating the maximum amount of space as quickly and cheaply as possible, and designed a radical steel structure.

[7] His use of glass and an exposed steel frame in this design was both radical and functional, although soon after completion it drew criticism from a new generation of architects that rejected Art Nouveau.

The interior is best preserved in Store 2, with a glass roof, wide staircases and characteristic bright blue, green and orange colors.

[10] Francis Jourdain said of the society in which he grew up that it was dominated by people who were highly opinionated and quick to take sides.