Alexandre Charpentier by Théo van Rysselberghe

Bas-Relief d'Alexandre Charpentier, Square Scipion

Maîtres de l'affiche V 3 - Pl 131 - Alex Charpentier

Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier (1856–1909) was a French sculptor, medalist, craftsman, and cabinet-maker.

Life and work

From working-class origins and apprenticed to an engraver as a young man, he became a studio assistant to the innovative medallist

Hubert Ponscarme François Joseph Hubert Ponscarme (20 April 1827, Belmont-lès-Darney - 27 February 1903, Malakoff, Hauts-de-Seine, Malakoff) was a French sculptor and medallist. Biography He was the second of twelve children born to a family of farmers. At tha ...

. Along with Ponscarme,

Louis-Oscar Roty Louis-Oscar Roty usually known as Oscar Roty (11 June 1846 – 23 March 1911) was one of the most celebrated medallists of the Art Nouveau period. Biography Louis-Oscar Roty was born on 11 June 1846 in Paris. He first studied painting and sc ...

, and other artists, Charpentier advanced a resurgence of art in French medal design. Charpentier's patrons included

André Antoine André Antoine (31 January 185823 October 1943) was a French actor, theatre manager, film director, author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France. Biography André Antoine was a clerk at the Paris Gas Utilit ...

, for whom he designed theatre programmes. Charpentier experimented with a wide variety of formats and materials—tin, marble, wood, leather, and terra cotta work, the latter executed by ceramic artisan Emile Müller. He opened several cabinet shops and designed many sets of furniture. Many of his custom designs for fixtures (doorknobs, door plates, window handles and the like) were subsequently mass-produced and commercially sold. Several of Charpentier's works are part of the Musée d'Orsay collection.

Social circle

Carpentier's artistic and literary social circle was perhaps as significant as his output. Among his friends was

Constantin Meunier Constantin Meunier (12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian painter and sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and miner to an icon of mode ...

, with whom he collaborated on a monument of

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

, and he had a hand in the sculptural interiors at

Le Chat Noir Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a nineteenth-century entertainment establishment, in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by the impresario Rodolphe Salis ...

cabaret. His work was also shown at the ''

Les XX ''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their art ...

'' exhibition in Brussels in 1893. In 1895, he was a founding member of the arts group ''Les Cinq'', which sought to apply new mechanical methods to furniture design. (The other founding members were architect

Tony Selmersheim Joseph Paul Anthony Selmersheim, known as Tony Selmersheim (2 June 1871 – 16 August 1971) was a French architect and decorator. Life Joseph Paul Anthony Selmersheim was born on 2 June 1871 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines. His parents were An ...

, designer Felix Aubert, sculptor

Jean Dampt Jean Baptiste Auguste Dampt (1854–1945) was a French sculptor, medalist, and jeweler. Biography Born in Venarey-les-Laumes as the son of a cabinetmaker, Dampt studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, then in 1874 under the leadership of ...

and painter

Étienne Moreau-Nélaton Adolphe Étienne Auguste Moreau-Nélaton (2 December 1859 – 25 April 1927) was a French painter, art collector and art historian. His large collection is today held in its entirety by French national museums. Family Moreau-Nélaton was bo ...

.) Architect

Charles Plumet Charles Plumet (17 May 1861 – 15 April 1928) was a French architect, decorator and ceramist. Life Charles Plumet was born in 1861. He became an architect and designed buildings in medieval and early French Renaissance styles. He collaborated wi ...

would join in 1896, changing the group's name first to ''Les Six'' and then to ''Art dans Tout'' with the later association of

Henri Sauvage Henri Sauvage (May 10, 1873 in Rouen – March 21, 1932 in Paris) was a French architect and designer in the early 20th century. He was one of the most important architects in the French Art nouveau movement, Art Deco, and the beginning of ar ...

and others. His second wife was his student, Élisa Beetz-Charpentier, also a medalist and sculptor.

References

Sources

National Gallery of Art online biography (pdf format)

online biography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charpentier, Alexandre 1856 births 1909 deaths 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 20th-century French sculptors 20th-century French male artists French medallists French cabinetmakers 19th-century French male artists