Emmanuel Frémiet
Emmanuel Frémiet (born December 6, 1824 in Paris ; † September 10, 1910 there ) was one of the most important French sculptors of the 19th century and mostly made animal sculptures in the style of naturalism and neoclassicism .
Life
Childhood and teaching
Emmanuel Frémiet was born into a medium-sized family in Paris. His family was closely related to the arts; his mother was an artist and his cousin Sophie a painter. Sophie, who was married to the famous sculptor François Rude , gave him particular support. At the age of five he went to a private school where his artistic talent was encouraged. At the age of 13 she was accepted by the renowned École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs de Paris . At the age of 16 he began an apprenticeship with the painter Jacques-Christophe Werner . Because of his promising skills, he was entrusted with the work of a lithographer in his studio. Frémiet now made the preliminary drawings for Werner's painting. He spent a lot of time in the Botanical Gardens and the Zoological Gardens in Paris doing animal studies. In addition, like many of his contemporaries, he drew in morgues and dissected dead animals in order to accurately reproduce the muscle and bone structure. These studies were the basis for his later very detailed sculptures.
Professional work
In 1843 he exhibited his first sculpture, a gazelle , at the Salon de Paris , where he held his own exhibitions throughout his career. In the period that followed he specialized in small bronze animal sculptures, the material of which he made in his own foundry and which won numerous awards and prizes. He sold these works in his workshops and foundries, 42 Boulevard du Temple , later Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré .
He received his first public commission in 1849, and since then he has made more works for the state and especially for the city of Paris than any other sculptor.
From 1855 to 1859 he created a series of equestrian statues for the French Emperor Napoleon III. He also demonstrated his skills in this area, which he later demonstrated for other clients. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Frémiet was discouraged in his creativity at the sight of so much violence. He fled the city during the siege of Paris . When he returned, he found his house ransacked. This time was a low point in his life and he wanted to give up his job. Fortunately, this attitude seems to have given way to new enthusiasm over time, as he produced his most important sculptures in the next few years.
After the Franco-German War
Despite the then very strained relationship of France to the German Reich he took an order of Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck and created for the castle grounds of Schloss Neudeck in Oberschlesien numerous life-size sculptures fighting animals and a well.
In 1875 he was proposed as professor of drawing for the Jardin des Plantes . Frémiet was director of the Louvre's sculpture department and also a sought-after instructor in his field, which is why teaching 20 students was not uncommon. He exerted great influence on his American students, the most famous of whom was Augustus Saint-Gaudens .
44 years after his first participation in the Salon Exhibition, he won the Medal of Honor here in 1887 for his sculpture Gorilla wearing a woman . Other works for the Paris Natural History Museum followed. In 1878 he became Officier de la Légion d'Honneur (O. LH), in 1892 he was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France and he succeeded Antoine-Louis Baryes as professor of animal drawing at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. In 1904 he was elected as a foreign honorary member (Hon. RA) of the Royal Academy of Arts in London .
Frémiet, who was one of the most important French animal sculptors and made this style popular, died in 1910 at the age of 86 in his hometown. He was buried in the Passy cemetery, preferred by the nobility .
His works were sold to the Parisian foundry Baroperne , given their seal and kept until the First World War . Today his works are very popular with collectors and are characterized by their gentle, elegant features. His statues can be found in large numbers in Paris.
Works
elephant
Pan and the bear children
Elephant statue in front of the Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Equestrian statue of Bertrand du Guesclin, Dinan
Le Dénicheur d'oursons , Jardin des Plantes, Paris
- Equestrian statue of Louis d'Orlans (in front of the Château de Pierrefonds), 1869
- Equestrian statue of Joan of Arc (Place des Pyramides, Paris), gilded bronze, erected in 1874, replaced by a new one in 1889
- Fontaine des Quatre parties du monde (fountain of the four continents, only the horses, Place Camille Jullian in Paris), completed in 1875
- Sculptures of fighting animals and a replica of the Parisian continent fountain ( Neudeck Castle Park in Upper Silesia)
- Statue of Diego Velazquez (Jardin de l'Infante at the Louvre, Paris)
- Natural-size chained young elephant (square in front of the Musée d'Orsay , Paris), bronze (2.22 m × 3.60 m × 3.12 m), 1877–1878.
- Statue of Archangel Michael fighting the dragon (on the steeple of Mont-Saint-Michel ), gilded bronze, erected in 1897. A 260 cm high replica is in the Muséee d'Orsay in Paris.
- Equestrian statue of Bertrand du Guesclin (in Dinan ), erected in 1902.
literature
- Jacques de Biez: Un maître imagier. E. Frémiet . Aux bureaux de l'Artiste, Paris 1896
- Jacques de Biez: E. Frémiet . Jouve, Paris 1910
- Phillippe Fauré-Frémiet: Frémiet . Plon, Paris 1934
- Catherine Chevillot: Emmanuel Frémiet. La main et le multiple . Catalog of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, Dijon 1988, ISBN 2-900462-28-2
- Pierre Kjellberg: Les bronzes du XIXe sièle. Dictionnaire des sculpteurs . L'Amateur, Paris 1987, ISBN 2-85917-066-9 (English edition: Bronzes of the 19th Century. Dictionary of sculptors . Schiffer, Atglen (Pennsylvania) 1994, ISBN 0-88740-629-7 )
Web links
- Biography Frémiets (English)
- Pictures of his works
Individual evidence
- ^ Sidney C. Hutchison: The History of the Royal Academy of Arts 1768–1968. Chapman & Hall, London, 1968, p. 240.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Frémiet, Emmanuel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 6, 1824 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1910 |
| Place of death | Paris |