François Pompon (9 May 1855 – 6 May 1933) was a French

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

. Pompon made his Salon debut in 1879, exhibiting a statue of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Cosette Cosette () is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo and in the many adaptations of the story for stage, film, and television. Her birth name, Euphrasie, is only mentioned briefly. As the orphaned child of an u ...

(from ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

''). He was a pioneer of modern stylized animalier sculpture. He was not fully recognized for his artistic accomplishments until the age of 67 at the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

of 1922 with the work ''Ours blanc'' (''White Bear''). Pompon died in Paris, France, on 6 May 1933.

Early life

Pompon, the son of a cabinet maker, was born on 9 May 1855 in

Saulieu Saulieu () is a rural commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Its 2,413 inhabitants (in 2017) call themselves Sédélociens. Capital of the Morvan, situated within the Morvan Regional Na ...

, Burgundy, France. At age 15 he was working as an apprentice

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

carver in a Dijon

funerary monument Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...

company, but soon thereafter took up studies at the school of fine arts in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

. By 1873 his family had moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

where the Franco-Prussian War had caused significant damage to the French capital just a few years prior to his arrival. Pompon found work on rebuilding projects, beginning with his work to produce architectural ornamentation for the new Hotel de Ville de Paris.

Career

Beginning in 1876 he studied under the noted animalier sculptor

Pierre Louis Rouillard Pierre Louis Rouillard (Paris, 16 January 1820 – Paris, 2 June 1881) was a French sculptor known for his sculptures of animals. He was one of a "school of French '' animalières''", which also included Pierre-Jules Mêne, Antoine-Louis Barye, ...

at the

École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ÉnsAD, also known as Arts Decos', École des Arts Décoratifs) is a public grande école of art and design of PSL Research University. The school is located in the Rue d'Ulm in Paris. Profi ...

. In order to support himself, he took jobs as a craftsman working for Antonin Mercié,

Alexandre Falguière Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguière (also given as Jean-Joseph-Alexandre Falguière, or in short Alexandre Falguière) (7 September 183120 April 1900) was a French sculptor and painter. Biography Falguière was born in Toulouse. A pupil of the � ...

, and Renae de Saint-Marceaux. Later he worked as Auguste Rodin's assistant. Rodin once told him, "you will be a great artist" after viewing one of his sculptures. Pompon made his Salon debut in 1879, exhibiting a statue of Victor Hugo's Cosette (from ''Les Misérables''). In subsequent Salons he presented some works in the form of a few bronzes and plasters. As it turned out Rodin was correct—he would become a great artist—but it would take nearly 50 more years for Pompon to be truly discovered and recognized for his innovative style. He had some mild success in 1919 when the Musée de Luxembourg purchased a turtle dove he had sculpted in stone. Following this, the

Museum of Grenoble The Museum of Grenoble (french: Musée de Grenoble) is a municipal museum of Fine Arts and antiquities in the city of Grenoble in the Isère region of France. Located on the left bank of the Isère River, place Lavalette, it is known both for it ...

purchased three plaster works in 1921. Widespread recognition and fame finally came at age 67 at the

of 1922 with the work ''Ours blanc'', also known as ''White Bear'' or ''Polar Bear in Stride'', of which the final exemplar in white stone is located at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The acclaim he received in 1922 finally allowed him to work for himself and with this new-found independence he was able to produce some of his most important works. He created ''Grand Cerf'' (''Large Deer''), a monumental bronze that was erected on the plaza of

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Next came ''Taureau'' (''Bull'', 1933) that was erected in his hometown of Saulieu. As founders for his bronzes he employed, primarily, Valsuani and Hébrard. A number of other foundries began to seize upon his notoriety and cast fakes of his work, many of extremely poor quality. Near the end of his life, Pompon donated to the Dijon Museum nearly 300 of his works in plaster, terracotta and bronze.

Death and legacy

Pompon died in Paris, France, on 6 May 1933. He is best remembered as a forerunner of modern sculpture, and influenced Constantin Brâncuși among others.

Gallery

File:Saulieu - Taureau de Pompon.jpg, ''Taureau'',

, Bourgogne File:Saulieu - Taureau de Pompon 2.jpg, Idem File:Pompon 1767.jpg, ''Taupe'' File:Pompon 1772.jpg, ''Sanglier'' File:Pompon 1773.jpg, ''Sanglier'' File:Pompon 1774.jpg, ''Perroquet'' File:Pompon 1776.jpg, ''Cerf'' File:Owl - Chouette - François Pompon.jpg, ''Petite chouette'' (1918) File:Pompon - Hyène.jpg, ''Hyène'' File:Pompon - Coq.jpg, ''Coq'' File:Ours Pompon Musee Orsay.jpg, ''Ours blanc'', detail ( Musée d'Orsay) File:Ours - Pompon - Dijon.JPG, ''Ours blanc'' (Jardin Darcy,

) File:Dijon ours de Pompom.jpg, ''Ours blanc'' (Jardin Darcy,

) File:Francois Pompon wild duck taking flight.jpg, Wild Duck Taking Flight, 1932 File:Pompon, Orangutan.jpg, alt=Orangutan bust, Francois Pompon, Orangutan bust

Location of sculptures

* Musée des Beaux-arts,

, France * Musée François Pompon,

, Burgundy, France * Musée d'Orsay, Paris *

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York *

Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum (Dutch ''Beeldentuin Middelheim Museum'') is a sculpture park of 30 acres in the park part of the Middelheim Nachtegalen Park at Antwerp. The Middelheim Museum collection has approximately 400 works of art on di ...

, Antwerp, Belgium

References

External links

Biography on the National Museum of Wildlife Art
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pompon, Francois 1855 births 1933 deaths People from Saulieu 20th-century French sculptors 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 19th-century French male artists