Grandjean de Montigny refused an offer from Russia in favor of one to go to Brazil. He moved to Brazil in 1816 at the invitation of King
John VI of Portugal (1816–26), who wanted to improve the cultural level of the colony. He arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 12 March 1816. He represented architecture among the French artistic colony organized and led by
Joachim Lebreton, who created the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio. These artists had been educated at the
École des Beaux-Arts and had been forced into exile after the fall of
Napoleon. Other members of the group included the two brothers
Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, painter of battle scenes, and
Auguste Taunay, sculptor;
Jean-Baptiste Debret, painter, and
Charles-Simon Pradier, engraver. Grandjean de Montigny was to live in Rio de Janeiro until his death in 1850. Throughout this period he was the only teacher of Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts. He designed the Roman Arch (1816) and many other buildings in an eclectic classical style. He designed the building for the Academy of Fine Arts in 1817. Montigny built the Praça do Comércio (exchange), completed in 1820 and later occupied by the customs. This is now the Casa França-Brasil, a cultural center. Grandjean de Montigny made innovative proposals for redeveloping Rio de Janeiro in 1824-25 and in 1827. He designed official and private buildings, including residences in Rio de Janeiro in the Passeio, Mariz e Barros, Haddock Lobo and Catumbi streets. Other buildings included the Royal College of Science, Arts and Crafts and the Candelaria market. He converted the Seminário São Joaquim for use as the Colégio Pedro II. In 1829 he was responsible for all the decorations for the festival celebrating the marriage of the Emperor
Pedro I of Brazil and the Empress
Amélie of Leuchtenberg. In 1848 he was charged with design of the Imperial Palace and the Senate. Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny died in Rio de Janeiro in the spring of 1850. ==Works==