Paul-Edouard Delabrierre
| Paul-Édouard Delabrièrre | |
|---|---|
| Born |
29 March 1829 Paris, France |
| Died | 1912 (aged 82–83) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work | L'Equitation |
| Movement | Animalier school |
| Spouse(s) | Anne-Eugénie Alléon |
| Patron(s) | Louvre |
Paul-Édouard Delabrièrre (29 March 1829 – 1912) was a French animalier sculptor who worked in the mid-to-late 19th century and the early 20th century. He had 70 of his sculptures juried into the prestigious Salon art exhibition held annually in Paris. His monumental work called L'Equitation adorns the facade of the Louvre.
Delabrièrre was born in Paris, France, on 29 March 1829, the son of Louis Henri Delabrièrre and Marie Zoe Delabrièrre (née Chaffard). He first studied painting under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Delestre but ultimately became a sculptor instead. Little is known of Delabrièrre's life besides the work he left behind which exist in bronze, plaster, wax, and terra cotta.
On 20 June 1868 he was married to Anne-Eugénie Alléon who had been twice widowed when her first two husbands, Émile Rubantel (a designer) and Claude Martin (a pawn broker), both died. She died 23 April 1878 in Paris.
Delabrièrre was an important member of the animalier school who exhibited at the Salon from 1848 through 1882. His first two exhibits were typical of the style of his work throughout his career. He submitted Greyhound Holding a Hare and Wounded Deer. Most of his oeuvre were comparatively small models, however his larger pieces often incorporated figures. His work varies in style and quality with some models directly influenced by Antoine-Louis Barye who was the father of the animalier school.
Delabrièrre's more popular realist bronzes were of impeccable quality and place him in the top echelon of his school. The facade of the Louvre incorporates one of his largest groups, the monumental L 'Equitation, which depicts a horse and two putti, one of whom is aboard the horse. It was completed by Delabrièrre in 1857 and installed that same year. In the final two years of his exhibiting career Delabrièrre experimented with iron as a worthy material for the Salon, although that idea did not go over well with collectors who were accustomed to bronzes. The works that were done in cast iron were produced by the art foundry Durenne Val Osne under the direction of Pierre Louis Rouillard. A list of Delabrièrre's 70 works presented at the Salon can be found in the Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs by Stanislas Lami.
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