Antoine-Louis Barye (; 24 September 179525 June 1875) was a
Romantic French sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
most famous for his work as an ''
animalier
An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...
'', a sculptor of animals. His son and student was the sculptor
Alfred Barye.
Biography
Born in
Paris, France
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, Barye began his career as a
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...
, like many sculptors of the
Romantic Period
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
.
He first worked under his father Pierre, and around 1810 worked under the sculptor
Martin-Guillaume Biennais, who was a goldsmith to Napoleon. After studying under sculptor
Francois-Joseph Bosio in 1816, and painter
Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, he was in 1818 admitted to the
École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
. But it was not until 1823, while working for the goldsmith Emile Fauconnier that he discovered his true predilection from watching the animals in the
Jardin des Plantes
The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...
, making vigorous studies of them in pencil drawings comparable to those of
Delacroix, then modeling them in sculpture on a large or small scale.
In 1819 while he was studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, Barye sculpted a medallion named ''Milo of Crotana Devoured by a Lion'', in which the lion bites into Milo's left thigh. Milo's theme was the school's official theme for the medallion competition of 1819, where Barye earned an honorable mention. c. 1820 Barye sculpted ''
Hercules with the Erymanthean Boar'', depicting
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
's fourth Labor, where he had to capture a live wild boar from
Mount Erymanthos
Mount Erymanthos (, Latin: ''Erymanthus'') overall is an irregular massif of peaks connected by ridges embedded in the mountains located in the north of the Peloponnese, Greece. Erymanthos is on the west side. Its highest peak, Olenos or Olonos ...
.
Barye was no less successful in sculpture on a small scale, and excelled in representing animals in their most familiar attitudes. Barye sculpted the portrait medallion ''Young Man in a Beret'' (1823) in
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
, as well as ''Portrait of the Founder Richard'' (1827), in which only a head and neck are shown. He also sculpted ''
Poised Stag'' (1829), a much larger sculpture, which had a height of 48 cm, and was one-third life size.
Barye didn't only want to be known as a sculptor of small bronzes, he wanted to be known as a ''sculpteur statuaire'' (a sculptor of large statues). In 1831 he exhibited much larger statues, ''Tiger Devouring a Gavial Crocodile'' which was a plaster sculpture 41 cm high and 103 cm long, and ''Lion Crushing a Serpent'', 138 cm high and 178 cm long, made in bronze. In 1832 had truly mastered a style of his own in the ''
Lion with a Snake''.
Barye, though engaged in a perpetual struggle with want, exhibited year after year studies of animals, admirable groups which reveal him as inspired by a spirit of true romance and a feeling for the beauty of the antique, as in his ''Theseus and the Minotaur'' (1843), ''Roger and Angelica on the Hippogriff'' (1846)), ''Lapitha and Centaur'' (1848), ''Jaguar Devouring a Hare'' (1850), and numerous minor works now very highly valued. The latter two works were exhibited at the
Paris Salon
The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...
of 1850, causing
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic.
While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...
to observe:"The mere reproduction of nature does not constitute art; Barye aggrandizes his animal subjects, simplifying them, idealizing and stylizing them in a manner that is bold, energetic, and rugged, that makes him the Michelangelo of the menagerie."
Examples of his larger work include the ''Lion of the Column of July,'' of which the plaster model was cast in 1839, various lions and tigers in the gardens of the
Tuileries, and the four groups ''War, Peace, Strength, and Order'' (1854).
While Barye excelled at sculpture, he often faced financial burdens due to his lack of business knowledge. In 1848 he was forced to declare bankruptcy, and all of his work and molds were sold to a foundry. The foundry began making inferior work from 1848 to 1857, and his reputation suffered during this time.
[Mackay, James, The Animaliers, E.P. Dutton, Inc., New York, 1973] In 1876 what remained of Barye's inventory, 125 models, were sold to the Ferdinand Barbedienne foundry.
The 1877 Barbedienne catalogue offered all of the models in bronze in variable sizes, and the Barbedienne castings were of superb quality.
Fame did not come until later in life. In 1854 he was made Professor of Drawings at the
Museum of Natural History, and was elected to the
Académie des beaux-arts
The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect.
Background
The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...
in 1868. He produced no new works after 1869.
The mass of admirable work left by Barye entitles him to be regarded as one of the great animal life artists of the French
animalier school, and the refiner of a class of art which has attracted such men as
Emmanuel Frémiet,
Paul-Édouard Delabrièrre,
Auguste Cain, and
Georges Gardet.
There is a public square on the eastern tip of
ĂŽle Saint-Louis
Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by fo ...
in Paris dedicated to him.
File:Barye Hercules.jpg, ''Hercules Sitting on a Bull'', 1830s (National Museum
A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
, Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
)
File:Theseus Slaying Minotaur by Barye.jpg, ''Theseus and the Minotaur'', 1843 (Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of modern art, ...
)
File:Antoine-Louis_Barye_-_Roger_and_Angelica_Mounted_on_the_Hippogriff_-_Walters_27173_-_Profile.jpg, ''Roger and Angelica Mounted on the Hippogriff'', 1846 (Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...
)
File:Antoine-Louis Barye - Lapith Combating a Centaur - Walters 2736 - Profile.jpg, ''Lapith Combating a Centaur'', 1848
File:Antoine-Louis Barye - Turkish Horse, No 2 - Walters 2767 - Profile.jpg, ''Turkish Horse, No. 2'', modeled c. 1844 (Walters Art Museum)
File:Antoine-Louis_Barye_-_Jaguar_Devouring_a_Hare_-_Walters_27180_-_Profile.jpg, ''Jaguar Devouring a Hare'', 1850 (Walters Art Museum)
File:The Panther of Tunis by Antoine-Louis Barye.jpg, Bronze sculpture by Antoine-Louis Barye: “The Panther of Tunis”
File:Antoine-Louis Barye - Charles VII, the Victorious - Walters 27164 - Profile.jpg, Charles VII, the Victorious (Walters Art Museum)
File:Antoine-Louis Barye - Elephants in Water - Walters 37819.jpg, ''Elephants in Water'' (Walters Art Museum)
File:Tigresse apportant un paon Ă ses petits by Auguste Cain.jpg, Paris, France. Statue of tiger. Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection.
File:Tiger at Rest.jpg, Antoine-Louis Barye, ''Tiger at Rest'' (c. 1850–70), oil and charcoal on paper, mounted on canvas, 12 3/16 x 18 1/4 in. (31 x 46.5 cm) Clark Art Institute
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, commonly referred to as the Clark, is an art museum and research institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Its collection consists of European ...
Family
Barye had a son,
Alfred Barye, who studied under him and also became an animalier sculptor. Alfred, although very competent in his own right as a sculptor, would struggle to gain notoriety working in the shadow of his more famous father. Antoine-Louis was not pleased when his son began signing work as "A. Barye" because he thought this created confusion between his work and that of his son. He forced his son to sign as "A. Barye, fils" or "Alf Barye" in order to distinguish their works.
The senior Barye signed only one way throughout his entire career, simply marking his bronzes "Barye".
See also
*
Émile-Coriolan Guillemin
References
Attribution:
This in turn cites
*
Emile Lami, ''Les Sculpteurs d'animaux: M. Barye'' (Paris, 1856)
*
Gustave Planche, “M. Barye,” ''
Revue des deux mondes'' (July 1851)
*
Théophile Silvestre, ''Histoires des artistes vivants'' (Paris, 1856)
*
Arsène Alexandre, ''A. L. Barye, Les Artistes célébres'', ed. E. Muntz (Paris, 1889) (with a bibliog.)
*
Charles DeKay, ''Life and Works of A. L. Barye'' (1889), published by the Barye Monument Assoc. of New York
*
Jules Claretie, ''Peintres et sculpteurs contemporains'' (1882)
*
Roger Ballu, ''L'Ĺ“uvre de Barye'' (1890)
*
Charles Sprague Smith, ''Barbizon Days'' (1903)
Sources
*
Joseph G. Reinis, ''The Founders and Editors of The Barye Bronzes'' (New York, 2007)
*
William R. Johnston,
Simon Kelly et al ''Untamed'' (New York, 2006)
* Benge, Glenn F. ''Antonine-Louis Barye, Sculptor of Romantic Realism''. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University, 1984. Print.
* Wharry, David et al. ''A Guide to the Louvre''. Ghent, Belgium: Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon, 2005. Print.
External links
A Gallery Rotation of 50 bronze sculptures by Antone Louis Barye*
R. W. Norton Art GalleryAntoine-Louis Barye's Biography– Rehs Galleries' biography on the artist.
''Daumier Drawings'' an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Barye (see index)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barye, Antoine-Louis
19th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors
Animal sculptors
French animal artists
1795 births
1875 deaths
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Sculptors from Paris
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
Pupils of Antoine-Jean Gros
19th-century French male artists
