Auguste-Nicolas Caïn
Auguste-Nicolas Caïn (born November 4, 1822 in Paris ; † August 6, 1894 there ) was a French animal sculptor and medalist .
Life
Caïn initially learned the butcher's trade , but then became a student of the wood sculptor Alexandre Guyonnet and later of François Rude . Caïn began to devote himself exclusively to the sculpting of animals, in which he very soon developed great natural truth and characterful representation.
In an exhibition in 1846 he first appeared with a small group of bloodlines defending their nest against a rat , and in his subsequent work he stayed with the smaller animals, e.g. B. the frogs that demand a king (1851), but then gradually went over to the large birds of prey and created an eagle that defends its prey (1852), an eagle that hunts a vulture (1857), a falcon on the Rabbit hunting.
Finally, he turned to the depictions of the largest predators , which he depicts masterfully and with a monumental conception both in calm states and in moving battle scenes. This includes:
- Lion in the Jardin du Luxembourg (1874)
- Domestic dispute between a lion and a lioness over a boar (1875)
- A Tiger Family (1876)
At the Paris World Exhibition of 1878 a dramatic fight between two tigers of terrible liveliness and a bull for the fountain at the Trocadéro . In 1879 his bronze equestrian statue of Duke Charles II of Braunschweig was completed in Geneva.
He was the son-in-law of the sculptor Pierre-Jules Mène , whose daughter he married in 1852. His sons Georges and Henri both became artists.
literature
- Emmanuel Bénézit (ed.): Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinatreurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays. Volume 3, new edition. Grund, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-7000-3013-3 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Caïn, Auguste-Nicolas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French animal sculptor and medalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 4, 1822 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 1894 |
| Place of death | Paris |