Félix Charpentier (; 10 January 1858 in Bollène in Vaucluse – 1924) was a French sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
Biography Félix Charpentier's father worked in a brick making factory and in 1871, Félix started work in the same factory. He was to show artistic talent when very young and at the age of 7 he was modelling small figures from wood and from the clay which he found at the brickworks where his father was working. At 16 years of age he went to Avignon and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts there and became a pupil of the sculptor Armand. In 1877, he entered the École nationale des beaux-arts de Paris and worked in the studio of Pierre-Jules Cavelier and Amédée Doublemard. From 1878 onwards, Felix' reputation grew and in 1867 he won the silver medal at the Exposition Universelle and received several commissions. He exhibited each year at the Salon des Artistes Français. In 1882 the Salon awarded him a citation for the composition entitled "Le Repos du Moissonneur" and in 1884 he was awarded the 3rd Prize medal for the composition entitled "Le Jeune Faune" which was then purchased by the city of Paris.
In 1887 his submission of the work in plaster entitled the "L'Improvisateur" won him the 2nd Prize medal and a paid visit to Italy and in 1889 with a bronze version of the same piece he won a silver medal at the Paris World Fair. In 1890 he won the Salon's 1st Prize medal and the Exhibition Prize for the compositions of "La Chanson" in marble and "Lutteurs" in plaster. The marble version of "Les Lutteurs" was to subsequently bring him the Salon's highest award, the "Medal of Honour". It was purchased by the State and since 1905 has stood by the town hall of Bollène. On 5 May 1892, the day of the unveiling of the monument celebrating Avignon's absorption into France, he was decorated with the title of Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. In 1888 he had married his model, Léa Lucas and they had a daughter called Francine. In 1900 he was elected mayor of Chassant in Eure-et-Loir where he lived. During his life he received commissions for a number of public monuments and after the Great War he was chosen as the sculptor of various war memorials (monuments aux morts).
Principal works NameLocationDateNotes"Première sensation"Avignon1882This work is held in the Musée Calvet d'Avignon.
http://www.felix-charpentier.net/accueil.html . Well indexed website said to have been put together by descendants of Chapentier"The monument celebrating the centenary of Avignon's absorption into the French Empire-The "Monument du Centenaire" Avignon1891Below is an old post card showing the monument. Charpentier carried out the substantial sculptural work involved."Vénus aux hirondelles"Avignon1893This was one of Charpentier's earliest works and it stands in the "Jardin du rocher des Doms". The work in bronze was presented to the Paris Salon in 1894. A hirondelle is the bird the swallow."Le Globe Endormi"Charpentier was awarded the Gold Medal at the Exposition trienniele Internationale in Vienna for this composition.L'Art contemporain" Paris1900This work is on the façade of the eastern side of the Grand Palais in the Avenue Winston-Churchill in Paris."La Tâche" This work in plaster was submitted to the Paris Salon in 1908. A "Tâche" is a task.Statue of Antoine BigotNîmes1903Charpentier was the sculptor of the statue of Antoine Bigot, the writer, which stands in Nîmes' Jardin de la Fontaine. Bigot was born in Nîmes (1825–1897) and was a member of the Académie de Nîmes. Statue of Antoine Bigot. Retrieved 30 November 2013Gare de LyonParisCharpentier competed sculptural decoration for this Paris railway station.Madier de MontjauBourg-Saint-Andéol1899The inscription on the pedestal reads It seems that between 1942 and 1944 the bronze was replaced by a version in stone.Monument to Émile JamaisAigues-VivesThis monument is in the place Émile-Jamais.The original statue was taken by the Germans in 1942 and the bronze melted down for the manufacture of armaments. Charpentier's work was recreated by the sculptor Philippe Jamet Pournier and the replacement was inaugurated on 13 November 1993.Bust of Frédéric Mistral1911Le Jardin des Félibres honours the Félibrige a movement founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and six other poets from Provence to protect and promote the language of the Oc and at the garden's centre is the grave of Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, considered as the precursor of this movement. There is a fountain in the garden and the busts of 10 poets surround it. These are Jean-Charles Brun, Sextius Michel, Joseph Loubet, Pierre Deluns Montaud, Clovis Hugues, Paul Mariéton, Téodor Aubanel, Frédéric Mistral, Paul Arène and Maurice Faure. The garden is located in the Avenue du Président Franklin D.Roosevelt by the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Charpentier sculpted the bust of Mistral. "La Source Humaine" 1908Charpentier was commissioned to create a sculptural composition for a very large fountain called "La Source Humaine" to be installed in the Jardin du Luxembourg/Luxembourg Garden in Paris and this work was to occupy Charpentier on and off until his death. The work was to be in Carrara marble and the dimensions were so huge that Charpentier had to move to bigger premises to fulfill the commission.Notes on "La Source Humaine" . Retrieved 27 November 2013 The piece was finally installed in the Parc Pasteur in Orléans, Loiret, on loan from the Musée d'Orsay.Petit-patrimoine entry with several photographs of fountain and Charpentier's "La Source Humaine". Retrieved 27 November 2013 "La Source Humaine". Retrieved 29 November 2013Monument to Antoine Auguste BlachèreNimes1902This monument, comprising a pedestal with bas-relief surmounted by a bust of Blachère, is located in the Saint Baudile cemetery in Nimes in the Gard and involves sculptural work by Charpentier and Léopold Mérignargues. Carpentier sculpted the bust of Blachère which is in bronze and Mérignargues was responsible for the bas-relief on the side of the pedestal, also in bronze. Blachère served in the cavalry as a captain and had seen action in the Sahara and Sudan.Monument to Alphonse BenoitIsle-sur-la-Sorgue At the top of the pedestal is a bronze of this industrialist and philanthropist and at the sides are elaborate sculptures by Charpentier.Bust entitled "Mireille" Nogent-sur-Seine 1894This work is located in the Musée Paul Dubois-Alfred Boucher. Mireille was a heroine in the writings of Frédéric Mistral. It was in 1894 that Charpentier executed the piece in Terra cotta and a version in marble was it seems available in 1909 when it was offered for sale. Bust of SainAvignonPaul Saïn was a painter born in Avignon in 1853. He died in 1908. Charpentier created a bronze medallion with Sain's portrait for his tomb in Saint-Véran cemetery in Avignon. Charpentier also sculpted a bust of Sain which is in Avignon's Jardin des Doms.The monument to the Girondins BordeauxThe monument honouring the Girondins stands in the massive Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux, one of the largest squares in Europe. See note regarding this monument.It is here that the two Chateaux Trompette had stood. The first castle was constructed after the Battle of Castillon fought in 1453 which had marked the end of three centuries of English domination and the second was constructed during the minority of Louis XIV after a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653 known as the Fronde. This second castle was demolished in 1816 and the current square constructed. The Place des Quinconces derived its name from the original geometric formation of the trees planted there. The monument itself is of huge dimensions and at its centre is a tall Corinthian column on top of which a bronze statue of Liberty holds a broken chain in one hand and a laurel branch in the other. The chain symbolizes oppression, now overcome, and the laurel, which the figure is offering to the people of Bordeaux, symbolizes victory. Around the base of the column are several sculptural groupings. In one grouping three female figures represent Bordeaux and the rivers Garonne and the Dordogne region and in another a gallic rooster is joined by figures representing rhetoric and history. The Monument aux Girondin was built between 1894 and 1902 in honour of the Girondin deputies, victims of the reign of terror of the French Revolution, and in honour of the Third Republic. The idea of the monument came from the Bordeaux sculptor Achille Dumilatre and when work started he enlisted help from fellow sculptors Felix Charpentier and Gustave Debrie. It was Debrie who created the horses involved in one of the sculptural groupings.