Henri Marchand (1877–196

was a French-American sculptor known for his detailed museum dioramas.

Early life

Born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Marchand studied under

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

. In the early 1900s, he and his wife Clothilde, also an artist, emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Marchand began working as a diorama artist at the

New York State Museum The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol ...

. His work on the museum's

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

dioramas, dedicated in 1918, earned him recognition. In 1925, Marchand and his family moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, where he and his sons Paul and George were to construct dioramas for the Buffalo Museum of Science. Though much of the work the Marchands created there is no longer on display, some still can be seen, particularly in the museum's Hall of Wildflowers.

Scandal

Tragedy fell upon the family in 1930, when Marchand's wife Clothilde was murdered by a

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

woman named Nancy Bowen, who had been influenced by a younger woman in her tribe who was intimately involved with Marchand. This younger woman, Lila Jimerson, was one of Marchand's models for the exhibits he was working on at the time. During the very public trial, it was revealed that Marchand had had numerous affairs, many with native women. Marchand testified that this behavior was a "professional necessity", since his diorama work required him to sculpt bare-chested women. He also said during the trial that his wife Clothilde had known about and accepted his lifestyle, statements viewed as arrogant by numerous members of the court and the press.

Legacy

Though Marchand left the Buffalo Science Museum position following his wife's death, he continued to construct dioramas through the Marchand Diorama Corporation and had several workers under him. For instance, in the early 1930s, he donated a diorama to the

Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are an apostolic congregation of Catholic women founded by Saint Theodora Guerin (known colloquially as Saint Mother Theodore) at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840. Mother Theodo ...

that depicted the beginnings of their congregation; he sent one of his artists, Gregory Kamka, to finish eleven other dioramas for them. Marchand's sons Paul and George Marchand became well known in the field of museum dioramas themselves. Among themselves, the family created works for places including

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

References

External links

Who was Nancy Bowen? A Reading List
from the

Buffalo History Museum The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue and ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchand, Henri 1887 births 1960 deaths Artists from Buffalo, New York French artists Sculptors from New York (state) French emigrants to the United States