François Pompon

[1] By 1873 his family had moved to Paris where the Franco-Prussian War had caused significant damage to the French capital just a few years prior to his arrival.

[2] Beginning in 1876 he studied under the noted animalier sculptor Pierre Louis Rouillard at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs.

[2] In order to support himself, he took jobs as a craftsman working for Antonin Mercié, Alexandre Falguière, and Renae de Saint-Marceaux.

[1] Pompon made his Salon debut in 1879, exhibiting a statue of Victor Hugo's Cosette (from Les Misérables).

He created Grand Cerf (Large Deer), a monumental bronze that was erected on the plaza of Arnhem in the Netherlands.

Ours blanc ( White Bear ) — sculpture by François Pompon, pierre de Lens , 1927