Jules-Felix Coutan
Encyclopedia
Jules-Felix Coutan was a French sculptor and educator.
Life
As a student at the Ecole des Beaux-ArtsÉcole des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, Coutan was awarded the Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
in 1872; after his return to Paris he executed the fountain group France Bearing the Torch of Civilization for the Exposition Universelle (1889)
Exposition Universelle (1889)
The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...
, one of the two prominent sculptural commissions for the Exposition grounds. Later he taught at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
from 1900, where he expressed his disdain for the researches of Rodin
Rodin
- People :* Auguste Rodin , French sculptor, for whom is named:** The Musée Rodin in Paris, France** The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA** The Rodin Gallery in Seoul, South Korea** Rodin , a crater on the Moon...
— fumiste— and the Impressionist sculptors who followed him. He was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts
Académie des beaux-arts
The Académie des Beaux-Arts is a French learned society. It is one of the five academies of the Institut de France.It was created in 1795 as the merger of the:* Académie de peinture et de sculpture...
in 1905.
Coutan is best known in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the sculptural group above the entrance to Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
in New York City. For Grand Central Terminal, Coutan was contracted to provide a quarter-size scale plaster model of the three-figure allegorical Transportation group, which he developed from 1911 through 1914. (Coutan never visited the U.S.) The carving was performed by the William Bradley & Son of Long Island City.
The small bronzes, some stamped by the founders Thiebaut Frères, that represented a constant source of income for Coutan and a genre typical of his output, appear with some frequency on the art market.
Among Coutan's students were Hippolyte Lefèbvre
Hippolyte Lefèbvre
Hippolyte-Jules Lefèbvre was an academic French sculptor and medallist who received numerous official marks of recognition in his day but is now largely forgotten...
, Raymond Delamarre
Raymond Delamarre
Raymond Delamarre was a French sculptor and medalist.Delamarre fought in World War I and was awarded the Croix de guerre, then was educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jules-Felix Coutan...
, and the Argentine sculptor Rogelio Yrurtia
Rogelio Yrurtia
Rogelio Yrurtia was a renowned Argentine sculptor of the Realist school.-Life and work:Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Basque immigrants in 1879, Rogelio Yrurtia enrolled in the local Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in 1899. A talented student, he quickly earned a scholarship on which...
.
Work
- fountain group France Bearing the Torch of Civilization for the Exposition Universelle (1889)Exposition Universelle (1889)The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...
- caryatidCaryatidA caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
s for the Opéra-ComiqueOpéra-ComiqueThe Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
, Paris, 1899 - reliefs Science and Labor for the Pont de PassyPont de Bir-HakeimThe pont de Bir-Hakeim, formerly the pont de Passy, is a bridge that crosses the Seine River in Paris, France. It connects the city's 15th and 16th arrondissements, and passes through the île aux Cygnes....
(now the Pont de Bir-Hakeim), Paris - bas-reliefs for the polychrome terra-cotta facade in the Square Félix-Desruelles, with architect Charles Risler, for Sèvres PorcelainManufacture nationale de SèvresThe manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Frit porcelain porcelain tendre factory at Sèvres, France. Formerly a royal, then an imperial factory, the facility is now run by the Ministry of Culture.-Brief history:...
, circa 1900 - figure of La France de la Renaissance for the Pont Alexandre IIIPont Alexandre IIIThe Pont Alexandre III is an arch bridge that spans the Seine, connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter, widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in Paris...
, circa 1900 - high relief, The Eagle Hunters for the facade of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelleMuséum national d'histoire naturelleThe Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
in Paris; also the plaster model at the Musée d'OrsayMusée d'OrsayThe Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
(1893–1900);; bronze cast (1900), installed - Glory of Commerce group for Grand Central TerminalGrand Central TerminalGrand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, NYC, circa 1911 - the bust of Jean-Charles AlphandJean-Charles AlphandJean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, born in 1817 and died in 1891, interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery , was a French Engineer of the Corps of Bridges and Roads...
at the Père Lachaise CemeteryPère Lachaise CemeteryPère Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the... - Franco-Prussian War Memorial, PoitiersPoitiersPoitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
- angel figures for the José C. PazJosé C. PazJosé Clemente Paz was an Argentine statesman, diplomat and journalist, founder of the La Prensa newspaper....
tomb, La Recoleta CemeteryLa Recoleta CemeteryLa Recoleta Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several presidents of Argentina.- History :...
, Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina