Jules Dalou | |
|---|---|
 Jules Dalou in his studio, 1899 | |
| Born | Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-12-31)31 December 1838 Paris, France |
| Died | 15 April 1902(1902-04-15) (aged 63) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work | The Triumph of the Republic, 1899 The Triumph of Silenus, 1885 |
| Movement | New Sculpture |
| Awards | Commander of theLégion d'Honneur |
Aimé-Jules Dalou (French pronunciation:[ɛmeʒyldalu]; 31 December 1838 – 15 April 1902) was a 19th-century Frenchsculptor, admired for his perceptiveness, execution, and unpretentious realism.
Born in Paris to a working-class family of Huguenot background, he was raised in an atmosphere of secularity and Republican socialism. He was the pupil ofJean-Baptiste Carpeaux, who sponsored him for the Petite École (futureÉcole nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs), where he sympathized withAlphonse Legros andFantin-Latour.[1]
In 1854, he attended theÉcole des Beaux-Arts de Paris in theFrançois-Joseph Duret classroom. He combined the vivacity and richness of Carpeaux, for "he was, technically, one of the most distinguished modellers of his time",[2] with the academic insistence on harmonious outlines and scholarly familiarity with the work ofGiambologna,Pierre Puget,Peter Paul Rubens and others.[3]
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Dalou first exhibited at theParis Salon in 1861,[4][3] but he made no secret of his working-class sympathies. His politics obstructed his career under theSecond Empire: he was repeatedly refused thePrix de Rome that opened sculptors' careers to future official commissions. He started to work for decorators, and through this work metAuguste Rodin and began their friendship.[5]
He made a quiet living providing decorative sculpture for the structures that lined Paris's new boulevards and providing wax models for jewelry. He married Irma Vuillier, a partnership that sustained him throughout his life. They had one daughter, Georgette, who was mentally handicapped and required constant care. Dalou'sDaphnis and Chloe shown at theParis salon of 1869, was purchased by the State.
Having identified himself too publicly with theParis Commune of 1871, as curator at theMusée du Louvre underGustave Courbet, he took refuge inEngland in July 1871, staying at first with his friend the painter and engraverAlphonse Legros. He rapidly made a name through his appointment teaching at theSouth London Technical Art School and theSouth Kensington School of Art, also in London. He was convictedin absentia by the French government of participation in the Commune, and given a life sentence.
In his eight-year English exile, Dalou's association withCity and Guilds of London Art School, theNational Art Training School[6] and the artists of theNew Sculpture movement laid the foundation for new developments in the post-classical British school of sculpture.[3] He also recommended his friend and colleagueÉdouard Lantéri to move from France to England. At the same time Dalou executed a remarkable series of terracotta statuettes and groups, such asA French Peasant Woman andThe Reader; a series ofBoulogne women, such asA Woman of Boulogne telling her Beads;[7] and a series of informal terracotta portrait busts of friends and acquaintances, rarely signed. He was commissioned to produce the large public fountain calledCharity, erected at the back of theRoyal Exchange (1878), and forQueen Victoria a monument to two young granddaughters in her private chapel atWindsor (1878).
He returned to France in 1879, after the declaration of amnesty, and produced a number of masterpieces. His great relief ofMirabeau replying to Dreux-Brézé illustrating an encounter of 23 June 1789, which was exhibited in 1883 and later at thePalais Bourbon, and the highly decorative panelFraternity were followed in 1885 byThe Triumph of Silenus. For the city of Paris he executed his most elaborate and splendid achievement, the vast monument,The Triumph of the Republic, erected after twenty years of work in thePlace de la Nation, showing a symbolical figure of the Republic, aloft on her car, drawn by lions led by Liberty, attended by Labour and Justice, and followed by Abundance. It is somewhat in the taste of the Louis XIV period, ornate, but with a forward thrust to the ensemble and exquisite in every detail.[7]
Within a few days, his greatMonument toAlphand (1899), which almost equalled the success achieved by theMonument toDelacroix in theLuxembourg Garden, was inaugurated.[7]
The last of his works, cast posthumously, were a statue ofLazare Hoche inQuiberon (1902), theMonument toGambetta inBordeaux (1904), theMonument toÉmile Levassor (1907) and theMonument toScheurer-Kestner (1908) in Paris.
Dalou, who was awarded the Grand Prix of theExposition Universelle (1889), was made a commander of theLegion of Honor. He was one of the founders of theSociété Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and was the first president of the sculpture section.[3]
Dalou died in Paris on 15 April 1902, aged 63, and was interred in theCimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. His auction record, set at Sotheby's on 21 May 2014 is £362,500[8] forBoulonnaise Allaitant Son Enfant (a young mother from Boulogne feeding her child).
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dalou, Jules".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 777.
