Charles Gauthier (7 December 1831 – 5 January 1891) was a French sculptor who was made a

Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1872."GAUTHIER, Charles." ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford Art Online'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Retrieved 23 June 2014.

Career

Gauthier was born in

Chauvirey-le-Châtel Chauvirey-le-Châtel is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Notable people *Charles Gauthier (1831-1891), sculptor See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The followi ...

. He enrolled at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

in Paris on 6 April 1854, where he studied under

François Jouffroy François Jouffroy (1 February 1806 – 25 June 1882) was a French sculptor. Biography Jouffroy was born in Dijon, France, the son of a baker, and attended the local drawing school before being admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 18 ...

. He won a silver medal at the 1861 Prix de Rome and was awarded medals in 1865, 1866 and 1869. He exhibited at the Salon between 1859 and 1882. He died in Paris. Gauthier's allegorical statue entitled ''Moderation'' was placed in the foyer of the

Paris Opera House The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

in 1873. A plaster model for the statue exists in the collections of the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

. His ''Young Poacher'' (Fr. ''Jeune braconnier'') is on display in the grounds of the

Château de Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence f ...

Sculpture of Cleopatra

Following restoration, a plaster sculpture of the suicide of

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

, previously thought to be by

Albert Darcq Albert Darcq (Lille,"DARCQ, Albert." ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 25 June 2014. 8 September 1848 - 8 March 1895) was a French sculptor who was trained by Pierre-Jules Cavelier. He exhibi ...

, was revealed to be a work by Charles Gauthier after Gauthier's signature was discovered during cleaning. The sculpture was acquired by the French government from the Salon of 1880, then sent to the French embassy in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, then to

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

(home of Darcq) in 1886 and finally to the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille where the restoration took place.

Statue of Sergent Blandan

The statue of

Sergent Blandan Jean Pierre Hippolyte Blandan (9 February 1819 – 12 April 1842) was a French soldier, known for his historic resistance on the battlefield at Boufarik in Algeria. He was posthumously made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Career Blandan j ...

(Jean Pierre Hippolyte Blandan), French army hero of Algeria, was commissioned from Gauthier following a public competition. The statue once stood in

Boufarik Boufarik is a town in Blida Province, Algeria, approximately 30 km from Algiers. In 2008, its population was 57,162.popul ...

, but following Algerian independence it was moved to France in 1963, where it was placed in the courtyard of a barracks in Nancy. In 1990, it was moved to

Rue du Sergent Blandan The Rue du Sergent Blandan is one of the oldest streets of Lyon. It connects Saint Vincent and the slopes of the Croix-Rousse quarters, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon. The street starts rue Pareille, runs along the Place Sathonay, crosses the r ...

in Nancy.LE SERGENT BLANDAN LYON-BOUFARIK-NANCY
2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.

Selected works

*''

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

''. Bronze. Collegiate church of St-Quentin. *''

Our Lady of Humility Madonna of humility refers to artistic portrayals of the Virgin Mary which depict her sitting on the ground, or upon a low cushion. She may be holding the Christ Child in her lap. The term Virgin of humility is also used to refer to this style of ...

''. Plaster. Church at Argenteuil. *''St Matthew''. Stone. Church of the Trinity. *''Young Poacher''. 1872. Marble. Château de Fontainebleau. *''Moderation''. 1873. Paris Opera House. *''Andromeda''. 1875. Marble. Musée d'Orsay.Charles Gauthier: ''Andromède''
Musée d'Orsay, 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014. *''Cleopatra''. 1880. Plaster. Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille. *''Sergent Blandan''. c. 1886–87. Rue Sergent Blandan, Nancy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gauthier, Charles 1831 births 1891 deaths Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur People from Haute-Saône 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 19th-century French male artists