Bischoff, Ilse. “Etienne Maurice Falconet – Sculptor of the Statue of Peter the Great,” Russian Review, vol. 24, no. 4 (October 1965): 369-86
Etienne-Maurice Falconet
Born: Paris, 1 December 1716
Died: Paris, 24 January 1791
Nationality: French
Died: Paris, 24 January 1791
Nationality: French
Background:
humble origins
Studies:
with sculptor Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (1734-44)
Career:
1751 –model of Genius of Music (Louvre) shown at Paris Salon
1754 – member of Académie Royale
1748-64 – commissions from Bâtiments du Roi to decorate palaces and gardens belonging to Louis XVI
1757 –Marquise de Pompadour appoints Falconet director of sculpture studios at Sèvres porcelain factory; begins exhibiting regularly at Salon
1760 – contributes essay “Reflections on Sculpture” to Denis Diderot’s Encyclopedia
1761 – professor at Académie Royale
1766 –St Petersburg to work for Catherine the Great (Empress of Russia)
1781 – Oeuvres completes, Falconet’s essays and correspondence, is published
-regular correspondent with Diderot and Catherine the Great
Commissions from:
Bâtiments du Roi; Marquise de Pompadour; Catherine the Great
Important Artworks:
Milo of Crotona, 1744 (Louvre, Paris)
Standing Bather, 1757 (Louvre)
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