François Pompon – Animal Sculpture
Birth: Saulieu, Côte-d’Or, France
Training: Self-taught, worked in Parisian sculptors’ workshops
Movement: Modern sculpture, stylisation, animalier
Artistic Journey
François Pompon began his career as an assistant in the workshops of famous Parisian sculptors, including Auguste Rodin. He specialized in animal sculpture, but his fame mainly comes from his simplified, stylized, and modernist works. He reduced forms to capture the essence of the animal, moving away from academic realism. Pompon gained recognition through exhibitions at the Salon des Artistes Français and the Salon d’Automne, and his works were praised for their elegance and fluidity. He influenced 20th-century modern sculpture by introducing a minimalist formal language in the depiction of animals.
Major Works
Polar Bear (1922) – Iconic sculpture, perfect simplification of the animal’s form.
Reclining Deer – Stylised and elegant work illustrating his study of animality.
Sitting Dog – Sculpture characteristic of his clean and modern style.
Reclining Lion – Blend of realism and stylisation, symbolising power and grace.
Style and Influences
Extreme stylisation: simplifying forms to capture essence.
Influence: Rodin and the animalier tradition, but oriented toward modernism.
Focus on balance between movement, volume, and purity of line.
Quote
“Simplify to reveal.”
