Edmé Bouchardon (; 29 May 169827 July 1762) was a
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 ...
best known for his
neoclassical statues in the gardens of the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, his medals, his equestrian statue of
Louis XV of France for the
Place de la Concorde (destroyed during the
French Revolution); and for the
Fountain of Four Seasons in Paris. He was also a draftsman and painter, and made celebrated series of engravings of working-class Parisians.
[''Le Petit Robert des Noms Propres'', Paris (2010)]
Biography
Bouchardon was born in
Chaumont-en-Bassigny, the son of a sculptor and architect,
Jean-Baptiste Bouchardon. He learned sculpture first in the studio of his father, and then with
Guillaume Coustou. He won the
Prix de Rome of the
Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1722, and as a consequence lived and worked in Rome from 1722 to 1732. He resisted the more ornate tendencies of the
Rocaille style, and moved toward
neoclassicism
Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...
. While in Rome, he specialized in busts of distinguished patrons, including
Pope Benedict XIII.
In 1726 he also began a copy of the ''
Barberini Faun'', a Classical Hellenic sculpture from the
Palazzo Barberini in Rome. His copy arrived in France in 1732, and was greatly admired, and aided the transition of French sculpture toward
neoclassicism
Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...
.
In 1775 the
Duke of Chartres bought it for his elaborate garden at
Parc Monceau. It is now in the Louvre.
On his return to France, he was employed in the royal art workshops at the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, working alongside his two brothers, he made statues for the
gardens of Versailles, including the statue of
Proteus in the Basin of Neptune. In his style, he resisted the flamboyant Rocaille style of his contemporaries, and tended toward more classical models. Bouchardon sculpted ''Cupid Fashioning a Bow out of the Club of Hercules'', now in the Louvre, for the gardens of Versailles. It depicted a realistic, unidealized adolescent
Cupid in a natural posture, which was completely in contrast with the classical ideals. He first presented the model in terra cotta at the 1739
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
, then a full-scale model in 1746. He was commissioned to make a marble version, which he created between 1747 and 1750. The work established his reputation, and also his fortune; he was paid a remarkable 21,000
livres.
His last completed major sculptural work was the
Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons on the Rue de Grenelle in
Paris
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 ...
, commissioned in 1739, and completed six years later in 1745. This work featured a classical colonnade, decorated with statuary. It was similar in its arrangement of statues made by
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
in the
Sagrestia Nuova in Florence. His sculpture was widely admired. It was featured, along with a fine engraving of the fountain, in the article on classical sculpture by
Jacques-François Blondel in the French ''
Encyclopédie'' of 1765. However, it also drew considerable criticism, the colossal sculptural work on a narrow street provided only a tiny trickle of water. The project was criticized by
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
in a letter to
Anne Claude de Caylus in 1739, as the fountain was still under construction:
Bouchardon was commissioned to make one last major work, an equestrian statue of
Louis XV for the
Place Louis XV, to commemorate France's victory in the
War of Austrian Succession. He died before the work was finished. It was completed by
Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, but was destroyed during the
French Revolution.
Sculpture
File:Portrait of Pope Clemente XII (Lorenzo Corsini) by Edme Bouchardon, French, after 1730, tinted plaster and terracotta - California Palace of the Legion of Honor - DSC07739.JPG, Bust of Pope Clement XII, plaster and terra-cotta (after 1730) California Palace of the Legion of Honor
File:Sleeping satyr Bouchardon Louvre MR1921.jpg, Copy of the Barberini Faun in Rome made by Bouchardon, Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
(1732)
File:Edme Bouchardon, Cupid, 1744, NGA 41708.jpg, Edme Bouchardon, ''Cupid'', 1744, National Gallery of Art
Amor Bouchardon Louvre MR 1761.jpg, ''Amor Fashioning a Bow after the Club of Hercules'', 1750, Louvre
Bouchardon Genius des Überflusses.jpg, ''Genius of Abundance'', 1731; Bode Museum
File:Palais-Rohan-Bibliothèque (2).jpg, Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan, bust in the library of Palais Rohan, Strasbourg (after 1730)
File:Street vendor MET DP155993.jpg, Porcelain figure of a street vendor (1750–60)
File:4 saisons zone centrale.jpg, Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons, Paris (completed 1745)
File:Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons Paris 7 partie centrale.jpg, Central portion of the Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons (1745)
File:4 saisons le printemps.jpg, Detail of the Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons, Paris (completed 1745) (''Spring'')
File:French architects and sculptors of the XVIIIth century (1900) (14578206667).jpg, The finished equestrian statue of Louis XV for Place Louis XV, completed by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1762)
Jetons
Bouchardon also designed
jetons or metal tokens, which were distributed by the King. The subjects and themes were chosen by the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and passed through an elaborate process of critiques before approval, which involved the King himself. Drawings and
counterproofs for these jetons are now held at various museums and collections around the world including the
Institut de France, the
Musée de la Monnaie, and the
Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Family
Bouchardon's brother, Jacques-Philippe Bouchardon, was also a sculptor, who became first sculptor to the king of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
.
Drawings and etchings
Bouchardon was particularly skilled at drawing, and produced two series of drawings of working people in the streets of Paris. His drawings, made with ''sanguine'' or reddish chalk, were originally used to make a series of smaller ceramic sculptures of Parisian characters, such as street vendors (see gallery). Later they were made into a series of etchings by the historian and engraver
Anne Claude de Caylus, under the title ''Studies made of the Lower Class or the Cries of Paris.'' These became a very valuable source of information for later social historians.
[''Le Petit Robert des Noms Propres ''(2010)]
Edmé Bouchardon - Study for the Equestrian Statue of Louis XV - WGA02875.jpg, ''Study for the Equestrian Statue of Louis XV'', c. 1750, Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
File:America MET DP805450.jpg, Print of the continent ''America'' after a drawing by Bouchardon for a sculptural design, (Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
Edmé Bouchardon - Design for Fountain in Niche - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Design for Fountain in Niche'', c. 1735, Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum
File:Design for a Token- Trésor Royal 1748 MET DP805457.jpg, Design for a royal ''jeton'', or commemorative token (1748)
File:Diana at the Bath After Returning from the Hunt MET 53.600.2443.jpg, Diana at the Bath after Returning from the Hunt (1730–60), Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Études prises dans le bas peuple ou les Cris de Paris - Porteur d'eau.jpg, A water carrier (1742), Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Études prises dans le bas peuple ou les Cris de Paris - Cotterets.jpg, A firewood seller in Paris (1748), Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Oyster Seller MET DP817840.jpg, Oyster seller in Paris (1738), Metropolitan Museum of Art
References
Bibliography
*
Gerhard Bissell''Bouchardon, Edme'' in: ''
Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (Artists of the World)'', Vol. 13, Saur, Munich 1996, from p. 425 (in German).
* Duby, Georges and Daval, Jean-Luc, ''La Sculpture de l'Antiquité au XXe Siècle'', (French translation from German), Taschen, (2013), ()
* Geese, Uwe, Section on Baroque sculpture in ''L'Art Baroque – Architecture – Sculpture – Peinture'' (French translation from German), H.F. Ulmann, Cologne, 2015. ()
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchardon, Edme
1698 births
1762 deaths
People from Chaumont, Haute-Marne
18th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors
18th-century French painters
French male painters
Prix de Rome for sculpture
18th-century French male artists
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