Antonin Mercié
sketched byRamon Casas(MNAC)
Marius Jean Antonin Mercié(October 30, 1845 inToulouse– December 12, 1916 inParis), was a Frenchsculptor,medallist[1]andpainter.
Biography[edit]
Mercié entered theÉcole des Beaux-Arts,Paris, and studied underAlexandre FalguièreandFrançois Jouffroy,and in 1868 gained theGrand Prix de Romeat the age of 23. His first great popular successes were theDavidandGloria Victis,which was shown and received the Medal of Honour of theParis Salon.Thebronzewas subsequently placed in theSquare Montholon.[2]
The bronzeDavidwas one of his most popular works. TheBiblicalhero is depicted naked with the head ofGoliathat his feet likeDonatello's David,but with aturbannedhead and sheathing his long sword. Numerous reproductions exist, most of which incorporate aloincloththat covers David's genitalia but not his buttocks. The lifesize original is now[update]in theMusée d'Orsay.
Mercié was appointed Professor of Drawing and Sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts, and was elected a member of theAcadémie françaisein 1891, after being awarded the biennial prize of theInstitute of 800in 1887.[2]He was subsequently elected to grand officier of theLégion d'honneur,and in 1913 became the president of theSociété des artistes français.Marie-Antoinette Demagnezwas among his many students at the École des Beaux-Arts.[3][4]He died in Paris on December 12, 1916.[5]
Works[edit]
The Genius of theArts(1877), arelief,is in theTuileries,in substitution forAntoine-Louis Barye'sNapoleon III.A similar work for the tomb ofJules Michelet(1879; designed with architectJean-Louis Pascal) is inPère Lachaise Cemetery,and in the same year Mercié produced the statue ofAragowith accompanying reliefs, now erected atPerpignan.[2]
In 1882 he repeated his great patriotic success of 1874 with a groupQuand Même!,replicas of which have been set up atBelfortand in the garden of the Tuileries.Le Souvenir(1885), a marble statue for the tomb ofCharles Ferry,is one of his most beautiful works.[citation needed]Regret,for the tomb ofAlexandre Cabanel,was produced in 1892, along withWilliam Tell,subsequently atLausanne.[2]
Mercié also designed the monuments toJean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier(1895), erected in the Jardin de l'Infante in theLouvre,andLouis Faidherbe(1896) atLille,a statue ofAdolphe Thiersset up atSt Germain-en-Laye,the monument toPaul Baudryat Père Lachaise, and that ofLouis-PhilippeandQueen Améliefor their tomb atDreux.His stone group ofJusticeis at theHôtel de Ville,Paris.[2]
Numerous other statues, portrait busts, and medallions came from the sculptor's hand, which gained him a medal of honor at theParis Exhibition(1878) and the grand prix at that of 1889. Among the paintings exhibited by the artist are a Venus, to which was awarded a medal in 1883,Leda(1884), andMichelangelostudyingAnatomy(1885), his most dramatic work in this medium.[2]
Mercié is known inAmericaprimarily for three monuments: the 1890Robert E. Leeequestrianbronze onMonument AvenueinRichmond, Virginia(theRobert E. Lee Monument), which was removed in September 2021; his 1891 collaboration with former teacherAlexandre Falguièreon the statue of theMarquis de LafayetteinLafayette Square, Washington, D.C.;[6]and the 1911Francis Scott KeyMonument inBaltimore, Maryland.
Gallery[edit]
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Unveiling of the Equestrian Statue of Robert E. Lee, May 29, 1890. Richmond, Virginia -
Lee statue, unveiled -
Statue of the Marquis de Lafayette,Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.,1891 -
Francis Scott Key Monument,circa 1907–1910 -
David,1870 -
Le Souvenir,1885, for the tomb ofMme Charles Ferry -
David vainqueur de Goliath,circa 1894-1910
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^L. Forrer, Mercié, Antonin (1909).Biographical Dictionary of Medallists.Vol. IV. London: Spink & Son Ltd. pp. 34–35.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^abcdefOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Mercié, Marius Jean Antonin".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 152–153.
- ^"Buste En Terre Cuite Par M. A. Demagnez".ProAntic.com.Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2015.Retrieved29 January2016.
- ^"Julian Academy".sites.Google.com.Retrieved29 January2016.
- ^Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 31 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 913.
- ^"Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette, (sculpture)".Inventory of American Sculpture, Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.Smithsonian American Art Museum. IAS DC000217.
Further reading[edit]
- DuPriest Jr., James E. and Douglas O. Tice, Jr.Monument & Boulevard:Richmond's Grand Avenues,A Richmond Discoveries Publication, Richmond, Virginia, 1996
- Goode, James M.The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C.,Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 1974
- Mackay, James,The Dictionary of Sculptors in Bronze,Antique Collectors Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk 1977
- Rusk, William Sener,Art in Baltimore: Monuments and Memorials,The Norman Remington Company, baltimore, 1924
External links[edit]
Media related toAntonin Merciéat Wikimedia Commons
- Smithsonian biography
- Art Renewal Center
- Insecula (French language): index to pages on selected works(it may be necessary to close an advertising window to view this page)
- Webshots: a visitor photo of Mercié's David
- Antonin Merciéin American public collections, on the French Sculpture Census website
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1845 births
- 1916 deaths
- 19th-century French painters
- French male painters
- 20th-century French painters
- 20th-century French male artists
- Academic art
- Prix de Rome for sculpture
- Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour
- Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
- 20th-century French sculptors
- 19th-century French sculptors
- French male sculptors
- Honorary Members of the Royal Academy
- 19th-century French male artists