Antoine Louis Barye
Isidora Jules Bonheur
Marcel-Andre Bouraine
Demetre Chiparus
Clare Jeanne Roberte
Colinet
Louis
Justin Icart
Carl
Kauba
Pierre
Jules “PJ” Mene
Jules Moigniez
Fredrick Remington
Auguste Rodin
Charles Marion Russell
Max Turner
Emmanuel Villanis
Antoine Louis Barye
(1796-1875) was born
in Paris On September
24, 1796, as the son
of a goldsmith he
worked as an
apprentice to a metal
engraver until he was
drafted into the
military in 1812.
Following the war he
studied with the
Classical sculptor
Bosio. From 1818 to
1823 he attended The
Ecole des Beaux Arts
in Paris, winning a
second prize in 1819.
In 1832 he established
his own studio. In
1848 he became
director of plaster
casting establishment
in Louvre and in 1854
he was master of
zoological drawing in
the Musee d' Histore
Naturelle where one of
his pupils was Rodin.
Barye was the classic
case of an artist's
struggle for
recognition; his
talent was too
advanced to be
appreciated by most
until the late 1830's.
He was the greatest
animal sculptor of all
time and is the father
of the Animialier
School.
Isidore Jules Bonheur
(1827-1901) was one of
a family of well known
painters; he studied
painting, moving on to
sculpture in 1848. He
exhibited until 1899,
winning the coveted
Gold Medal at the
Universal Exhibition
in Paris. Somewhat
overshadowed by his
older sister Rosa,
Isidore nevertheless
was highly
accomplished. He
completed a memorial
statue to his sister
in Fontainloleau
during the last two
years of his life.
Bonheurs's studies
ranged from farm
animals to bears and
tigers, to equestrian
groups in a very
natural and realistic
quality. He was
inspired possibly by
his many visits to the
Buffalo Bill Wild West
Show.
Marcel-Andre Bouraine
Born in Pontoise
(Seine-et Oise), he
studied under Jean-Alexndre-Joseph
Falguiere (1881 -
1900), who had
reintroduced and
emphasized realism in
nineteenth-century
sculpture. Bouraine
was captured in
Germany during the
First World War, and
interned in
Switzerland. In 1922,
he exhibited at the
Salon des Tuileries.
The following year he
began to exhibit at
the Salon d'Autommne.
He executed
small-scale sculptures
for several French
firms, including Susse
Freer, La Verrier, and
Arthur Goldscheider,
often exhibiting with
the latter's La Stele
and L'Evolution
groups. In 1928
Gabriell Argy-rousseau
(1885- 1953)
commissioned a number
of figurines from
Bouraine, mostly
female nudes, but also
a fountain and an
illuminated group, all
of which were executed
in colored,
translucent pate de
verre. He executed two
major commissions for
the 1937 Paris
International
Exhibition, a colored
cement low relief,
twelve square meters
in size, for a
fountain at the Crafts
center and an
earthenware statue
representing ceramics
for the Sevres
Pavilion, 180
centimeters high and
160 centimeters wide.
Dimitri Chiparus
(1888-1950) Born in
Rumania Chiparus
immigrated to Paris,
were he studied under
Antonin Mercier and
Jean Boucher. He began
to exhibit small
sculptures, his very
first showing at the
salon of the societe
des Artistes Francais
in 1914 leading to an
honorable mention that
same year. Louis
Comfort Tiffany was
also awarded an
honorable mention that
same year. Chiparus
was an extremely
prolific artist,
producing a wide
variety of mainly
small scale figures.
These were executed
generally either all
in bronze or with
bronze and ivory. His
last recorded exhibit
at the salon was in
1939.Though his
feminine figures and
dancers made his
reputation; he also
produced a vast array
of sculptures of
children. Some of his
bronzes were cast at
the Marcel Guillemard
foundry in Paris. He
was awarded a prize at
the salon des
Beaux-Arts, in which
several
chryselephantine
sculptures exhibited.
Clare Jeanne Roberte
Colinet Born
in Brussels, she
studied sculpture
there with Jef
Lambeaux (1852 - 1908)
before moving to
Paris. She first
exhibited at the Salon
of the Societe des
Artistes Francais in
1913, and was awarded
an Honourable Mention
the following year, as
were Chiparus and
Tiffany. She became a
naturalized
Frenchwoman, and
continued to exhibit
at the Salon des
Artistes Francais,
where she was elected
a full member in 1929,
which she celebrated
by exhibiting the
plaster cast of a
statue entitles Les
reves sont des bulles
da savon (Dreams are
Soap Bubbles). She
exhibited at the Salon
de Independents in
Paris from 1937 - 1940
and was a Member of
the Union des Femmes
peintres et sculpteurs
(Union of Women
Painters and
Sculptures). She
executed her
compositions mainly
for three editors,
Edmond Etling, Arthur
Goldscheider and Les
Neveux de J Lehmann.
She lived at Asnieres
(Seine), at 59 rue du
Chateau. Colinet's
figures are frequently
very dramatic in
concept and catch the
models in hieratic
poses, in the midst of
executing a
particularly
complicated set of
dance steps, or else
forming the climax of
a Biblical or
historical anecdote.
The bronze in her
figures is normally
patinated, not cold
painted, and sometimes
jeweled. Her last
recorded exhibition at
the Salon was in 1945.
Louis Justin Icart
was born September 12,
1888 in France. His
inspiration for much
of his work came from
second wife, Fanny,
and the international
center of beauty and
art, the city of
Paris. During his
forty year artistic
career Icart delighted
lovers of Art Deco, a
fashion directed
almost exclusively
towards women on both
sides of the Atlantic.
Art Deco was a period
of perfection of
workmanship and this
factor in Icart’s work
related him to the
period.
Carl Kauba was
born in Vienna in
1865and died in 1922.
Although He signed
“Carl”, Kauba’s Birth
certificate officially
identifies him as
“Karl” son of an
Australian shoemaker.
He never visited
America himself but
was inspired by the
romantic stories of
the German, Carl May
and many photographers
and illustrations
which he had seen. He
was also inspired by
the possessions of a
complete Western
saddle and other
Indian artifacts that
an American friend
from Ohio sent as
gifts. In contrast to
most artists, Kauba’s
success as a
businessman was equal
to his artistic
achievements. He
worked in a studio in
his home and
personally directed
the casting of his
clay models in local
foundries.
Pierre Jules Mene
was born in Paris in
1810 and died there in
1871.Mene was the most
successful and
prolific animalier of
his day. He was born
into an apparently
prosperous artisan
family. Mene's father
was a skilled metal
tuner and was able to
teach his son the
basics of working a
metal foundry and the
principals of
sculpture. He
interpreted his own
sketches into bronze
casts by his own hand
and rapidly
established a
reputation for
himself. Mene won four
medals at the salon
and at major
exhibitions, receiving
the Cross of the
Legion d'Honneur in
1861.He was influenced
by the French painter
Carle Vennet and the
English painter
Landseer. His bronzes
inherited much of the
warm, friendly style
of romanticism but he
soon developed his own
style of naturalism.
He became the most
important and
influenced animalier
of his time.
Jules Moigniez
(1835-1894) was of the
French nationality.
From 1859 to 1892 he
displayed 30 animal
groups in the salon
were he made his
debut. Most of his
sculptures were of
game birds and hunting
dogs. Moigniez
committed suicide
after a long illness.
After Moigniez's death
his bronzes were cast
by A. George. Most of
them appeared at the
1862 Exposition in
London, were the
artist won a medal.
Fredrick Remington
(1861-1909) Depicted
the life of the cowboy
during 1880's and
1890's probably better
than any other artist
in his time. He
thought of himself as
a true citizen of the
American West. Born in
Canton NY, Remington
left college at the
age of 19 looking for
adventure in the West.
Remington operated his
own ranch in Kansas
and in 1886, he gave
it up as a failure and
came back to the East.
The experience served
him well in his later
career as an artist.
"What success I have
had," Remington had
once told a news
reporter "has been
because I have a
horseman's knowledge
of a horse. No one can
draw equestrian
subjects unless he is
an equestrian
himself".
As an artist,
Remington first made a
name for himself a san
illustrator and
painter and began
sculpting only 14
years before his death
in 1909, "I was
impelled to try my
hand at sculpture by a
mental desire to say
something in the round
as well as in flat.
Sculpture is the most
perfect expression of
action. You can say it
all in clay". The
first Remington in
clay was "Bronco
Buster" which was
completed in 1895.
Among his admirers
were Theodore
Roosevelt, who once
said that "Remington
portrayed a most
characteristic and yet
vanishing type of
American life. The
soldier, the cowboy,
the rancher, the
horse, the Indian and
cattle of the plains
will live in his
pictures and his
bronzes, I verily
believe for all time."
To read more about the
history of Frederic
Remington statues,
click here
Rodin, Auguste
(1840-1917). The
French artist Auguste
Rodin had a profound
influence on
20th-century
sculpture. His works
are distinguished by
their stunning
strength and realism.
Rodin refused to
ignore the negative
aspects of humanity,
and his works confront
distress and moral
weakness as well as
passion and beauty.
Francois-Auguste-Rene
Rodin was born
on Nov. 12, 1840, in
Paris. At the age of
14 he entered the
Petite Ecole, a school
of decorative arts in
Paris. He applied
three times to study
at the renowned Ecole
des Beaux-Arts but was
rejected each time. In
1858 he began to do
decorative stonework
in order to make his
living. Four years
later the death of his
sister Marie so
traumatized Rodin that
he entered a sacred
order.
The father superior of
the order recognized
Rodin's talents and
encouraged him to
pursue his art. In
1864 Rodin met a
seamstress named Rose
Beuret. She became his
life companion and was
the model for many of
his works. That year
Rodin submitted his
Man with a Broken Nose
to the Paris Salon. It
was rejected but later
accepted under the
title Portrait of a
Roman. Rodin traveled
in 1875 to Italy,
where the works of
Michelangelo made a
strong impression on
him. The trip inspired
his sculpture The Age
of Bronze, which was
exhibited at the Paris
Salon in 1877. It
caused a scandal
because the critics
could not believe that
Rodin had not used a
casting of a live
model in creating so
realistic a work.
The controversy
brought Rodin more
fame than praise might
have. In 1880 he was
commissioned to create
a bronze door for the
future Museum of
Decorative Arts.
Although the work was
unfinished at the time
of his death, it
provided the basis for
some of Rodin's most
influential and
powerful work. In 1884
he was commissioned to
create a monument that
became The Burghers of
Calais. His statues
St. John the Baptist
Preaching, Eve, The
Age of Bronze, and The
Thinker are world
famous. Rodin died on
Nov. 17, 1917, and was
buried at Meudon.
When Rodin was 76
years old he gave the
French government the
entire collection of
his own works and
other art objects he
had acquired. They
occupy the Hotel Biron
in Paris as the Musee
Rodin and are still
placed as Rodin set
them.
Charles Marion Russell
was born on March 19,
1864 in Oakhill,
Missouri, died in
Great Falls, Montana
in 1926. He was a self
taught artist, drawing
inspiration from his
life experience as a
cowboy. He specialized
in western style life:
cowboys, Indians,
buffalo, bears,
cougars and his
favorite- horses. The
viewer of Russell’s
bronzes share in his
feelings of delight
and despair, his
moments of high
excitement and those
of quite humor. The
sculptor was blessed
with an ability to see
those critical details
that give his works
excitement of life.
Some of his bronzes
are more
impressionistic than
others. By 1914 he had
established himself as
a success, as a
sculptor and painter.
Max Turner is
a Southern California
artist. I don't
know when he was born,
but he is in his 70's.
His specialty if
life-size figures
including children and
animals. He has
made a career out of
taking small
sculptures and
enlarging them to
life-size. He is
still working today
although he does more
supervising of younger
sculptors than
actually doing it
himself.
Emmanuel Villanis
was an Italian born
sculptor and one of
the most prolific
sculptors of the late
Victorian, early
Noveau periods. His
works are almost
exclusively female
subjects. His pieces
are easily recognized
by the artistic
scrolling of the
subjects name below
her face. Also readily
identifiable as
Villanis are the
perfect, ideally
proportioned features
of his women's faces
he used a deep cut for
the eyes - a technique
that was in sharp
contrast to other
sculptors of the time
who tried to reproduce
the natural eyeball.
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