Jules-Clément Chaplain (12 July 1839 – 13 July 1909) was a French sculptor and one of its finest medallists. With Louis Oscar Roty (1846–1911) he helped found the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

movement. Chaplain was born in

Mortagne-au-Perche Mortagne-au-Perche () is a Communes of France, commune in the Orne Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. It is classed as a Petites Cités de Caractère. Heraldry Population Poi ...

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.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 ...

where he studied sculpture under François Jouffroy and medals under Eugène Oudiné. In 1863, he won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

for medal-engraving and worked in Rome 1864–1868. He exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1863, receiving numerous awards, and in 1869 returned to Paris where he found official success almost immediately. In 1877 he was named official medallist of the French government, in 1878 a chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, and in 1881 appointed 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 1896 he became Art Director of the

Manufacture nationale de Sèvres The ''Manufacture nationale de Sèvres'' () is one of the principal European porcelain factories. It is located in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, France. It is the continuation of Vincennes porcelain, founded in 1740, which moved to Sèvres in 1756. ...

in 1900 a Commander of the

. Chaplain was responsible for the official portraits of every president of the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

from Patrice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta, in 1877 to

Émile Loubet Émile François Loubet (; 30 December 183820 December 1929) was the 45th Prime Minister of France from February to December 1892 and later President of France from 1899 to 1906. Trained in law, he became Mayor (France), mayor of Montélimar, w ...

in 1899. He also received the commission for engraving the gold coinage of France, and his official gold medal commemorating the 1896 visit of Czar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

was called "a masterpiece and one of the finest ever struck." Chaplain died in Paris 1909. His grave is in the

Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...

References

Answers.com entry

Medaillen von Pomeki
(in German) *

FineMedals.com photographs

External links

*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaplain, Jules-Clement 1839 births 1909 deaths People from Mortagne-au-Perche Artists from Normandy 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 20th-century French sculptors 20th-century French male artists French medallists Prix de Rome for engraving Art Nouveau sculptors Art Nouveau medallists Commanders of the Legion of Honour 20th-century French printmakers 19th-century French male artists