Christophe Fratin

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Fratin at work, lithograph Miroire drolatique .

Christophe Fratin (born January 1, 1801 in Metz , † August 17, 1864 in Le Raincy ) was a French sculptor . His most famous work in Germany was the crowning figure of the eagle column in Berlin.

Life

Fratin was the son of taxidermist Henry Fratin in Metz. He began training with him, but turned to art from around 1821. He first learned to draw at Charles Augustin Pioche's drawing school in Metz and later worked in Théodore Géricault's studio in Paris .

Fratin mainly produced images of animals. His motifs included horses such as Fermer, Cheval Anglais pur-sang (with whom he made his debut at the Salon de Paris in 1831 ), often humanized bears, but also big cats, deer, birds and many others. In the years from 1831 to 1842 and 1850 to 1862 he exhibited at the Salon de Paris and in 1851 at the Great Exhibition in London.

Fratin received orders as the sculpture Deux Aigles gardant Leur Proie (eagle and prey, designed in 1850), the 1863 Central Park of New York City was erected. At the Berlin Palace , Fratin created the crowning figure of the eagle column , which was erected in 1846 and destroyed in 1950 except for the capital. His colossal bronze group entitled Cheval attaqué par un lion stood on Paris' Square de Montrouge (today Place Ferdinand-Brunot ) from 1852 to 1942 , which was melted down during the German occupation of France in World War II in 1942.

Fratin received many commissions from the French state, including groups for the botanical garden and public space in Metz; including groups like two dogs, a stag, a horse and some eagles. He made numerous bronze animal sculptures for the Potsdam and Babelsberg palaces. He also produced a number of whimsical bear sculptures, including Ours jouant de la cornemuse , which shows a bear with a musical instrument. In addition to his large-figured works, he made a number of smaller bronzes. His sculptures can now be viewed in the Louvre, as well as in the museums of Metz, Lyon , Strasbourg , Nîmes , the Peabody Institute in Baltimore and in the archives of the Georg and Alice Eisler Foundation in Vienna .

To sign his bronzes, Fratin used various stamps with which he depicted his surname in block letters.
One of the stamps used (see illustration) had a mirror-inverted N at the end of its name due to a manufacturing error.

Fratin died in Le Raincy in 1864 and was buried in the Montmartre cemetery. In Metz, the street Rue Fratin is named after him.

  • Eagle column (1846) at the Berlin Palace

  • Cheval attaqué par un lion (1852) in Paris' Square de Montrouge

  • Le Cheval pur-sang (1852) on the Esplanade, Metz

  • Deux Aigles Gardant Leur Proie (1863) in Central Park, New York City

  • Signature of Christophe Fratin

Works (selection)

  • Lion à la crinière , 1860
  • Sanglier attaqué par des chiens
  • Lion capturant un gavial
  • Fier taureau
  • Jument et son poulain
  • Sing au portefaix assis sur une fontaine
  • Ours jouant avec ses petits
  • Combat d'Ours
  • Our dentist
  • Ours au bassinoire
  • Our philosophers
  • Our horloger
  • Our violonist
  • Ours et singe pedicure , 1850
  • L'Ours triomphant
  • Our ramasseur de paper
  • Ours à la masse
  • Our acrobates
  • Ours dansant
  • Voyage de cabinet
  • Serpents et Faunes , 1850
  • Griffons, angelots et masques , 1850
  • Boucs et panthères , 1860
  • Rhinocéros d'Asie

  • Cheval et Chien

  • Chien de chasse

  • Paire de coupe décorative

  • Jaguar grondant

  • Ours et singe pedicure

  • Tout ce qui vit sort d'un œuf

  • Port cigares Jean Nicot

  • Self-portrait

literature

Web links

Commons : Christophe Fratin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Le square de Montrouge renowned Ferdinand-Brunot - Paris 14e. In: paris1900.lartnouveau.com
  2. ↑ The water features are back. Fountains, fountains and brooks bubble in the Babelsberg Park. In: Gazette consumer magazine , Gazette Zehlendorf from July 2017.
  3. ↑ Rue Fratin, Metz . In: Google Maps
personal data
SURNAME Fratin, Christophe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fratin, Christopher
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 1864
Place of death Le Raincy