French Artist. A neoclassical sculptor, he is remembered for his busts and statues of famous figures from the late 18th century and early 19th century. Born in Versailles, France, in 1752 he enrolled at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris, France and from 1761 until 1764 he furthered his studies at the École Royale des Elèves Protégés, also in Paris. He traveled to Italy where he remained for ten years before returning to Paris where he became a member of the a member of the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1771, and a professor in 1778. When the French Revolution began in 1789, he was perceived as part of the bourgeois due to his connection to the court of King Louis XVI and he fell from favor but was not imprisoned. He was returned to his graces later during the French Consulate and Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte. In December 1804 he became a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. His notable subjects included Denis Diderot (1771), Benjamin Franklin (1778), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1778), Voltaire (1781), Molière (1781), George Washington (1786), Thomas Jefferson (1789), Louis XVI (1790), Robert Fulton, (1803), and Napoleon Bonaparte (1806). He died in Paris at the age of 87. His sculptures would be used as models for engravings of various US Postage stamps in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
French Artist. A neoclassical sculptor, he is remembered for his busts and statues of famous figures from the late 18th century and early 19th century. Born in Versailles, France, in 1752 he enrolled at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris, France and from 1761 until 1764 he furthered his studies at the École Royale des Elèves Protégés, also in Paris. He traveled to Italy where he remained for ten years before returning to Paris where he became a member of the a member of the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1771, and a professor in 1778. When the French Revolution began in 1789, he was perceived as part of the bourgeois due to his connection to the court of King Louis XVI and he fell from favor but was not imprisoned. He was returned to his graces later during the French Consulate and Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte. In December 1804 he became a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. His notable subjects included Denis Diderot (1771), Benjamin Franklin (1778), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1778), Voltaire (1781), Molière (1781), George Washington (1786), Thomas Jefferson (1789), Louis XVI (1790), Robert Fulton, (1803), and Napoleon Bonaparte (1806). He died in Paris at the age of 87. His sculptures would be used as models for engravings of various US Postage stamps in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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