Hippolyte-Jules Lefèbvre (4 February 1863 - November 1935) was a French sculptor and medallist who received numerous official marks of recognition in his day but is now largely forgotten. His most prominent works are the monumental

equestrian sculpture An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

s of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

and

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

, set up on the Basilique du Sacré Cœur, Paris.

Biography

Lefèbvre was born on 4 February 1863, in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. From a working-class background, he made his first studies at the École des Beaux-Arts, Lille, where he won numerous prizes and was sent with a municipal scholarship to study at the

École des beaux-arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

, Paris. In 1882 he moved to Paris, where he was a pupil of

Pierre-Jules Cavelier Pierre-Jules Cavelier (30 August 1814, in Paris – 28 January 1894, in Paris) was a French academic sculptor. Biography The son of a silversmith and furniture maker, Cavelier was born in Paris. He was a student of the sculptors David d'Angers ...

Louis-Ernest Barrias Louis-Ernest Barrias (13 April 1841 – 4 February 1905) was a French sculptor of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Beaux-Arts school. In 1865 Barrias won the Prix de Rome for study at the French Academy in Rome. Barrias was involved in the decor ...

and Jules Coutan. He began exhibiting regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1887, and in 1892, after receiving seconds in 1888 and 1891, won the

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in sculpture; on his return to Paris he pursued a successful official career. He was made a chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, and an officer in 1925. Aside from Sacré-Coeur, where he also provided sculpture for the high altar, his public sculpture is to be seen also at the

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

, Paris, where he received a gold medal at the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900 (), better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate develop ...

. His kneeling funeral figure of Léon-Adolphe Cardinal Amette, 1923, is in the Chapel of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul,

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

. He was called upon to provide sculpture for a number of monuments to the fallen of World War I. His ''Jeunes Aveugles'' (1902) won a medal of honor and was purchased for the collections at the

Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the regent Marie de' Med ...

, Paris. His work may also be found on the

Opéra de Lille The Opéra de Lille is a neo-classical opera house, built from 1907 to 1913 and officially inaugurated in 1923. Closed for renovation in 1998 it reopened in 2003 for Lille 2004. The Opéra de Lille is a member of the European Network for Opera, ...

, 1914; the ''Allegory of the Republic'' in the ''cour d'honneur'' of the French embassy in Vienna (built 1904); a marble ''

Niobe Niobe (; : Nióbē) was in Greek mythology a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa. She was the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Niobe is mentioned by Achilles in Homer's ''Iliad ...

'' at the Tour de Roland,

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

; and at the

Hôtel de Ville, Roubaix The (, ''City hall (administration), City Hall'') is a historic building in Roubaix, Nord (French department), Nord, northern France, standing on the Grand Place. It was designated a ''monument historique'' by the French government in 1998. His ...

. Lefebvre was often called upon to make commemorative medals, such as one celebrating the centenary of Argentine independence, 1910; one commemorating Jules Gosset, for the Société des Sciences, Lille; one that the architect Louis M. Cordonnier, member of the ''Institut de France'', distributed to friends and colleagues, 26 January 1912; Fondation Firmin Rainbeaux, 1930. His workshop drawings and jottings, unlike his finished sculpture, approached abstraction. Lefèbvre died in November 1935, in

Arcueil Arcueil () is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, center of Paris. Name The name Arcueil was recorded f ...

Legacy

A street commemorates him in Lille and a quai in Mondeville.

Gallery

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Hippolyte 1863 births 1935 deaths 19th-century French male artists 19th-century French sculptors 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors French medallists Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Officers of the Legion of Honour Prix de Rome for sculpture