Louis Auguste Moreau 1855-1919 "Victory" Bronzed Statue " Measures 27 1/2 In. High The very talented artist and sculptor Auguste Moreau was born in 1834 in Paris. He was the son of Jean-Baptiste Moreau, a French sculptor, who also worked as a painter and draughtsman. Auguste Moreau was already taught by his father and was introduced by him in the craftwork of sculpture. We can assume that he continued his education at one of the popular art schools in Paris.
The most popular art school at the lifetime of Moreau was the “École des Beaux-Arts†in Paris. Since 1968 this famous art academy has been called “École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Parisâ€. It was founded on April 20, 1797 as „École spéciale de peinture, de sculpture et d’architecture“ and was officially acknowledged by the French King Louis XVIII in 1819.
The most renowned one of Paris’ art schools is located in the district Saint-Germain-des-Prés and extends over an area of approximately 2 hectare. In the past there was the Augustinian monastery “couvent des Saints-Augustins“ at this location. Even today its little chapel is preserved. The studies at the art academy are always held in studios. That means about 10 to 20 students learn and work together in small classes under supervision of a lecturer.
Auguste Moreau knew probably not a few of the famous artists, who graduated at the “École des Beaux-Artsâ€. Among them are Henri Matisse (* December 31, 1869 in Le Cateau-Cambrésis; † November 3, 1954 in Cimiez) and the sculptor Georges Gimel (* March 8, 1898 in Domène; † January 21, 1962 in Megève).
During his further artistic training and development Auguste Moreau even then developed a special comprehension of art and his style of filigree figures. His works were first exhibited in 1861; therefore the artist became very early well-known. In the 19th century Paris was several times location of famous and great world’s fairs, at which also artists showed and presented their works. With the help of these exhibitions a lot of Moreau’s colleagues became famous and we can assume that the artist himself knew them and associated with them.
The first French world’s fair was held in 1855 in Paris. For the first time there was a stage for the contemporary art and modern artistic trends and a special pavilion, the “Palais des Beaux-Artsâ€, was built for that. Additional world’s fairs took place in 1867, 1878 and 1889. For the reason of the fair in 1889 the famous Eiffel Tower was build. It still exists and became the international symbol of Paris. The smaller world exhibition “Exposition internationale des Arts Décoratifs et industriels modernes“ took place in 1925 and was dedicated to arts and crafts and industrial design. The exhibition became a great stage for the international avant-garde of the modern and fine arts and therefore the artistic trend Art Deco is named after it.
Auguste Moreau surely had points of contact with the epoch of Art Deco, but he was more interested in the Art Nouveau. He became an important representative of this artistic trend, that is marked by its floral motifs and ornaments, curved lines and the demand to melt life together with art. Auguste Moreau worked in this style, designing filigree sculptures, figures and busts, that seem very naturally and detailed. The extraordinary artist died in 1917.