About Henri-Émile Allouard

Henri-Émile Allouard (French, 1844-1929)

Born at 23 Quai Voltaire on 11 July 1844, the young Allouard dreamed of being a painter. He studied literature and joined his father’s business as a book seller, meanwhile amusing himself by modeling clay and creating several busts that were accepted at the Salon, beginning in 1865. After serving in the Franco-Prussian war, at the age of twenty-eight he found himself too old to attend the École des Beaux-Arts and forced to rely on his own resources to complete his artistic education. A student of Eugène-Louis Lequesne (1815-1887) and Alexandre Schoenewerk (1820-1885), the young artist exhibited increasingly acclaimed works at the Salon, for which he received in 1876, a 3rd class medal; in 1882, a 2nd class medal and a place hors concours; in 1889 (Paris Universal Exhibition), a silver medal; in 1900 (Paris Universal Exhibition), a gold medal. He exhibited at the Salon from 1865 to 1924 and from 1889 was a member of the jury. Allouard was awarded officer of the Legion of Honour (1906) and commander of the Black Star of Benin (1904). A member of the sculpture jury of the École des Arts Décoratifs since 1889, he was president of the Cercle Volney and vice-president of the Société des Parisiens de Paris.

“Too old to attend art school, he was forced to rely on his own resources to complete his artistic education. This was, in essence, fortunate for him, as he retained a highly personal talent, and one senses that no master influenced his works, which are at once graceful and powerful. He never learned to circumvent difficulties, as is so often the case in studios; he confronted them head-on and sought to overcome them through the sole resources of his art. The method was foreign to him; the pursuit of grace and truth was his only goal, and he often achieved it.” (Translated from Publication mensuelle / Les Parisiens de Paris, 1910, p.18).
Allouard led a long and successful career and received numerous state commissions. In Paris his work can be found in major museum and public buildings, including at the Grand and Petit Palaces, the Musée du Luxembourg, the Hôtel de Ville, the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères and the Bibliothèque nationale. His work can be seen in provincial museums across France including Bordeaux, Dunkirk, Marseille, Nancy and Rouen and he executed numerous tombs and public monuments. He received commissions from overseas including from London, New York, Chicago, Bolivia and Bangkok.

Allouard’s most celebrated work ‘Molière mourant’ (1882) was shown in plaster at the Salon of 1882 and commissioned in marble by the state in 1885 for the foyer of the Paris Odéon National Theatre. It was shown at the 1889 Exposition universelle. His statue of ‘Beaumarchais’ (1882) was also purchased by the state. Both are untraceable in the French national collections and may be lost. His statue ‘La Mort’ (1910), depicting a robed skeleton crushing the symbols of vanity, is at the former convent des Cordeliers, rue de l’École-de-Médecine, Paris 6th arrondissement. His bronze monument ‘La République et le mobile’, commemorating the fallen of the 1870-1871 war, survives at Chartres. His statue of ‘Jeanne d’arc’, shown at the Salon in 1905, was bought for the Panthéon in 1911 but is now assumed lost. A bronze example survives at Place Jeanne d’Arc in Montigny-les-Metz. ‘Loin du monde’ (1894), in polychrome white and grey marble, is at the musée Camille Claudel in Nogent-sur-Seine. Also, in polychrome, coming bronze marble and onyx is ‘Jeune femme Peul’ (1902) in the musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille. ‘Richelieu à La Rochelle’ (1897) was shown at the sale in 1902 and in marble. A bronze version survives in the Place Richelieu at Amboise (Indre-et-Loire). A number of small working terracotta statues by Allouard are held in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris.

Bibliography:
E. Guénin, Les Parisiens de Paris : silhouettes artistiques, Paris, 1895, pp. 32-36.
C. Yriarte, L’art en France, Paris, 1895, p. 153.
Publication mensuelle / Les Parisiens de Paris, 1910, pp. 15-18.
Larousse – Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle – Tome 17, part. 1.
E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs. Tome I (A-C), Paris, 1939, p. 112.