Paul Dubois (18 July 1829 – 23 May 1905) was a French sculptor and painter from

Nogent-sur-Seine Nogent-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. The headquarters of The Soufflet Group is located here, as is the Musée Camille Claudel. The large Nogent Nuclear Power Plant is located here. Population Pe ...

. His works were mainly sculptures and statues, and he was also a

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

Early life

Paul Dubois was born on the 18 July 1829 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 ...

. He began studying law to please his father who practiced as a notary, but gave this up in order to train as a sculptor; his enthusiasm for this possibly fanned by the admiration he had for the work of his great-uncle

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (26 January 1714 – 20 August 1785) was a French sculptor. Life Pigalle was born in Paris, the seventh child of a carpenter. Although he failed to obtain the ''Prix de Rome'', after a severe struggle he entered the ''Ac ...

. When making his debut at the Paris Salon in 1857 he did so under the name Dubois-Pigalle.

Career

In 1858 he entered the atelier of

Armand Toussaint The French sculptor François Christophe Armand Toussaint was born in Paris on April 7, 1806, and died there on May 24, 1862. The son of a locksmith, Armand Toussaint entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1827 and studied under David d'Angers. I ...

at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. The following year he travelled to Rome, studying and copying the many great sculptures and mixed with the likes of

Henri Chapu Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (29 September 1833 – 21 April 1891) was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his work. Life and career Born in Le Mée-sur-Seine into modest circumstances, ...

Alexandre Falguière Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguière (also given as Jean-Joseph-Alexandre Falguière, or in short Alexandre Falguière) (7 September 183120 April 1900) was a French sculptor and painter. Biography Falguière was born in Toulouse. A pupil of the � ...

and Georges Bizet. As an artist he did not have to struggle with financial problems as his family supported all his studies. He stayed in Rome for 4 years and whilst in Rome he executed the works ''Saint Jean-Baptiste'' and ''Narcisse'' and, in 1863, was awarded "une médaille de 2° classe" by the Paris Salon for work sent to Paris from Rome. When he returned to France he completed the study of a young troubadour, ''Chanteur florentin du XVe siècle'', a work which was to bring him such popular success. ''Chanteur florentin du XVe siècle''
Musée d'Orsay In 1865 and 1876, he was awarded a ''médaille d'honneur'' at the Salon des beaux-arts. In June 1867 he was named Chevalier (Knight) 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 July 1874 he was named Officer of the Légion d'honneur; in July 1886 he was promoted to Commander of the Légion d'honneur; and in 1889 he was decorated with the Grand Croix (Grand Cross) of the Légion d'honneur. His success was not limited to sculpture and as a painter he was in much demand for portraits and after 1870 he gave as much time and effort to his painting as to his sculpture. He also taught at the Académie Julian. Dubois died from pneumonia in 1905.

Main works

Le musée Camille Claudel (ex Dubois-Boucher)

This museum was established by Dubois and

Alfred Boucher Alfred Boucher (23 September 1850 – 1934) was a French sculptor who was a mentor to Camille Claudel and a friend of Auguste Rodin. Biography Born in Bouy-sur-Ovin (Nogent-sur-Seine), he was the son of a farmhand who became the gardener of the s ...

and holds information relating to Dubois.

Gallery of images

File:Jeanne d'Arc Paul Dubois Paris 8e.jpg, Statue of Joan of Arc, Place Saint Augustin, Paris File:Dubois-portrait d'Alexandre Cabanel.JPG, Bust in marble of the painter

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Enciclopedi ...

File:Eve naissante by Paul Dubois, Petit Palais, Paris 2010.jpg, ''Ève naissante'', Petit Palais, Paris File:Narcissus Dubois cour Carree Louvre.jpg, ''Narcissus'' (1866), by Paul Dubois. On the north façade of the Cour Carrée in the Louvre Palace, Paris. File:Paul Dubois-Military courage.jpg, ''Military Courage'' reproduction, Mount Vernon, Baltimore File:Anne connétable de Montmorency Chantilly.jpg, Equestrian statue of Anne de Montmorency in the Château de Chantilly File:Le Souvenir au Salon de 1899.jpg, Photograph of Dubois' wax maquette of ''Le Souvenir'' submitted to the Salon des artistes français in 1899. The work mourns the loss of

Alsace and Lorraine Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

following the 1870 war with Prussia. File:Cathédrale de Nantes - cénotaphe de Lamoricière.jpg, The monument/cenotaph to General de La Moricière in

Nantes Cathedral Nantes Cathedral, or the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul of Nantes (french: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Nantes), is a Roman Catholic Gothic cathedral located in Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France. Construction began in 1434, on t ...

References

External links

Insecula (French language): index to pages on Dubois' works
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubois, Paul 1829 births 1905 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing Académie Julian faculty Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Honorary Members of the Royal Academy