Étienne Pagny (29 October 1829,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

- 28 December 1898, Lyon) was a French sculptor, known primarily for decorative work and busts.

Life and works

He was born to Jacques Pagny, a manufacturer of

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the department of Corrèze, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Tulle is also the episcopal see of the Roman Catho ...

, and his wife Élizabeth, née Courbon, from Thèze. He began his studies at La Martinière College, where he originally studied architecture before deciding to become a sculptor. In pursuit of that goal, he enrolled at the

École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon The École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon is a school of art and design in Lyon, located in Les Subsistances, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is part of the École des Beaux-Arts tradition, ...

. He was there from 1847 to 1849. His teachers included and

Joseph-Hugues Fabisch Joseph-Hugues Fabisch (born Aix-en-Provence, 1812; died Lyon, 1886) was a French sculptor. He was professor at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, and official sculptor to the diocese of Lyon. Life In 1840, he set himself up at Saint-É ...

. Upon completing his courses, he went to Paris and took a position in the studios of .M.Audin and E.Vial, ''Dictionnaire des artistes et ouvriers d'art du Lyonnais'', Bibliothèque d’Art et d’Archéologie, 1918-1919 He was there for only a short time when he was conscripted to serve with the forces of General

Nicolas-Charles Oudinot Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Count Oudinot, 1st Duke of Reggio (25 April 1767 in Bar-le-Duc – 13 September 1847 in Paris), was a Marshal of the Empire. He is known to have been wounded 34 times in battle, being hit by artillery shells, sabers, ...

, during the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence ( it, Prima guerra d'indipendenza italiana), part of the Italian Unification (''Risorgimento''), was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other ...

. While in Rome, he made use of what spare time he had studying the Italian masterpieces. When his service was completed, rather than return to Paris, he went home to Lyon where, until 1873, he worked with his old teacher, Bonnet. Some, including the painter

Joseph Guichard Joseph Benoît Guichard (14 November 1806, Lyon - 31 May 1880, Lyon) was a French painter and art teacher who worked in a variety of styles. Biography His parents were the owners of a wallpaper shop. Around 1818, he began to study drawing at ...

, felt that Pagny was subordinating his talents to Bonnet who, in fact, kept no records of Pagny's contributions. It is known, however, that he worked on the and the Hôtel de Ville, as he worked together with , another of Bonnet's students. Following Bonnet's death in 1873, Pagny set up his own studio, where he created several religious groups and numerous busts. In 1877, he was awarded third prize in a competition for decorating the

Théâtre des Célestins The Théâtre des Célestins is a theatre building on Place des Célestins in Lyon, France. It was designed by Gaspard André, and inaugurated in 1877, then in 2005. Alongside the Comédie-Française and the théâtre de l'Odéon, it is one of fe ...

, and received a commission to create three portrait sculptures for the façade;

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

and

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of man ...

. His most important work came shortly after, when he won a competition to provide the main grouping for a monument honoring the legionnaires and guards from Lyon who participated in the Franco-Prussian War. Inaugurated in 1887, it is commonly known as the "", and is located at the entrance to the

Parc de la Tête d'or The Parc de la Tête d'or (English: "Park of the Golden Head") is a large urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardin botanique de Lyon, as well as a l ...

. He died at the age of sixty-nine after a long and painful illness."Obsèques du statuaire Pagny", in: ''L'Express de Lyon'', 30 December 1898

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagny, Etienne 1829 births 1898 deaths Sculptors from Lyon La Martinière Lyon alumni

Life and works

References

Further reading

External links