French sculpture

French sculpture with the the Middle Ages

French sculpture at the 16th century

French sculpture at the 17th century

French sculpture at the 18th century

French sculpture at the 19th century

The French sculpture of the nineteenth century is marked by a very important production induced by the official orders related on the urban transformations and the secularization of the public life: cities and governments, in particular with Napoleon III and the Third Republic, compete in this field. The rise of a fortunate middle-class also takes part in the vogue of the statuary with the private monuments and the taste for the small bronze parts whose many animalist sculptors have a speciality.

The multiple public orders to which is added the weight of the Académie and the École of the Art schools reinforce more the academism dominating and the neoclassicism that the personal expression of the artists. The outstanding personalities are thus of number rather limited: one can retain François Rude for the first period, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Antoine-Louis Barye for the middle of the century and later Auguste Bartholdi before Auguste Rodin which outclasses the European sculpture as from 1880.

The important statuary of the 19th century remains rich and multiple with a good portion of academism but also with remarkable creators. The museums (Louvre - Museum of Orsay - Museum Rodin) reflect these richnesses but one should not neglect the urban developments which abound with various works, in particular the places, the gardens and the bridges of Paris and of course the cemeteries. Without forgetting that the provincial towns very often also have a rich person inheritance in this field.

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