François Pompon

In the early years of the 20th century, Pompon began to specialise in animal sculpture, working in the open air, depicting animals in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and those he saw at farms around the commune of Cuy in Burgundy. He showed regularly at the Salons, but suffered continuing financial hardship, which was exacerbated by the First World War and by the illness of his wife, whom he had married in 1882.

In the early 1900s, Pompon began to sell casting rights for his sculptures to Adrien Hébrard, the legendary founder and dealer of sculpture. With Hébrard’s support, his circumstances began to improve, having a solo show in 1919, and with important collectors such as Jacques Zubaloff acquiring his work. Critical acclaim grew, and by the mid 1920s he was recognised as part of a new generation of French sculptors (including Aristide Maillol, Jane Poupelet, Charles Despiau, Constantin Brancusi, Chana Orloff, Alexander Archipenko and Pompon’s close friend Joseph Bernard) who had emerged from the shadow of Rodin to affirm a new creed of simplicity, dignity and distilled form.

‘The polar bear’, begun in 1920 and reworked in different forms for almost fifteen years, cemented Pompon’s reputation, becoming a classic of modern sculpture. International exhibitions, commissions and awards now followed, and despite failing health Pompon worked with increasing energy up to his death in 1933. His Condor surmounts his tomb column in Saulieu, and a museum in the town is devoted to his work. Other works are in museums worldwide, and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris has a significant holding of his plasters, terracottas and bronzes.