François Pompon

(French, 1855–1933)

François Pompon was a French sculptor, most widely recognized for his smoothly stylized animalier sculptures. Born in Burgundy, France on May 9, 1855 to a family of cabinet makers, he quickly absorbed the trade, holding the position of apprentice marble carver for a funerary monument company by the age of 15. For much of his life, Pompon found little commercial success, producing his animal sculptures in tandem with plying his trade as a craftsman and working under more popular sculptors such as Pierre Louis Rouillard and Auguste Rodin. At the Salon d'Automne in 1922, Pompon's work was finally met with widespread acclaim, sparking a period of prolific independence resulting in some of his most important works, created in the last decade of his life. Shortly before his death in Paris, France on May 6, 1933, Pompon donated a large portion of his remaining works to the Dijon Museum.