Auguste Clésinger

Jean-Baptiste Auguste Clésinger, (Oct 22, 1814 - Jan 5, 1883), is a French romantic sculptor and painter, particularly known for his links with George Sand, of which he was the son-in-law, and Frédéric Chopin. He carved the tomb.

Auguste Clésinger is the son of Georges-Philippe Clésinger2, himself a sculptor, who trains him at the School of Fine Arts in Besançon, where he is a professor. He was also a pupil of Bertel Thorwaldsen.

Clésinger begins at the Paris Salon of 1843 with a Bust of Viscount Jules de Valdahon. His last exhibition will take place in 1864.

He is the author of numerous busts, notably those of the actress Rachel Félix and Théophile Gautier and the statue of Louise de Savoie of the series of Queen of France and Illustrious Women of the Luxembourg Garden in Paris.

Clésinger caused a scandal at the Salon of 1847 by presenting his Woman Stung by a Snake. This romantic sculpture is made from a cast made of Apollonie Sabatier, the muse of Charles Baudelaire, then mistress of the wealthy Belgian industrialist Alfred Mosselman and great art lover, who placed the order.

Clésinger stayed in Barbizon, where he was influenced by Theodore Rousseau and Charles Le Roux.

On March 16, 1846, Clésinger, who may have already noticed in a Parisian ball Solange Dudevant, asked Solange's mother, Sand Sand, for permission to label one of her statues Consuelo, title of one of her novels . She accepts and invites the sculptor to the 5 square of Orléans in Paris. Solange is engaged, but decides to break to marry the sculptor. This episode plays an important role in the family life of George Sand, especially in his relations with Frederic Chopin, who disagrees with the marriage. Clésinger offers the writer a bronze copy of his Dancing Faun, and of Melancholy, who are settled at Nohant.

On 19 May 1847, Clésinger and Solange Dudevant married in Nohant. But the relations deteriorated rapidly, to the point that on July 11, 1847, a brawl between Auguste Clésinger and Maurice Dudevant, Solange's brother, resulted in a break between George Sand and the couple. Clésinger has debts; The husband and wife asked George Sand in vain to mortgage his family estate. On the other hand, a reconciliation took place between the Clésinger and Chopin. After the death of Frederic Chopin in October 1849, Clésinger sculpted the tomb of the composer (Paris, cemetery of Père-Lachaise).

Two daughters were born of this marriage: Jeanne-Gabrielle, 28 February 1848, died in infancy. A second daughter, also named Jeanne-Gabrielle, nicknamed "Nini", was born on 10 May 1849 at the Château de Guillery in Pompiey. George Sand was very attached to him, but she died shortly after her parents had separated in Paris on January 14, 1855 from an ill-treated scarlatina, following an imprudence by her father.

In 1849, Clésinger received the cross of knight of the Legion of honor and was promoted officer in 1864.

He noticed the opulent and sculptural forms of Berthe de Courrière and in fact his model for the bust of Marianne preserved in the Senate in Paris, as well as for the colossal statue of The Republic of the World Fair of 1878.

Auguste Clésinger died on 6 January 1883 at his home in Paris, at No. 6 rue de la Chaise in the 7th arrondissement. He was buried in Paris in the Père-Lachaise cemetery, where one of his works, Eutherpe (1850) adorned the Funerary Monument of Frederic Chopin. At her death, Berthe de Courrière was instituted her universal legatee.

A street in Besançon, in the district of Montrapon-Fontaine-Écu, bears his name.

Selected works:
1847 : Woman bitten by a serpent, marble, Musée d'Orsay
1848 : Bacchante, a variation after the Woman bitten by a serpent, marble, Musée du Petit-Palais
1847 : Louise of Savoy, stone statue, jardin du Luxembourg
1857 : Battle of the Roman bulls, painted plaster, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Besançon.
1857 : The infant Hercules strangling the serpents of Envy, bronze Musée d'Orsay
1869 : Nereid groupe en marbre, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'archéologie de Besançon.
1854 : Sappho, plaster, Musée municipal de Châlons-en-Champagne
1865 : Femme à la rose, bronze Musée d'Orsay

Biblical art:
He produced life-size statues for the side chapels of the Église de la Madeleine in Besançon, of the Via Dolorosa, the Pietà, the Entombment, the Resurrection and ascension.
Via Dolorosa
Pietà
Entombment
Resurrection
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