Emmanuel Frémiet Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Emmanuel Frémiet (1824-1910⁠), French sculptor, born in Paris, was Rude's nephew and pupil. He devoted himself mainly to animal sculpture and equestrian statues.
In 1843 he presented at the Salon a study of "Gazelle" - and after that date he was very prolific in his work. Read the full biography

Emmanuel Frémiet (1824-1910⁠), French sculptor, born in Paris, was Rude's nephew and pupil. He devoted himself mainly to animal sculpture and equestrian statues.
In 1843 he presented at the Salon a study of "Gazelle" - and after that date he was very prolific in his work. His "Wounded Bear" and "Wounded Dog" were produced in 1850 and the Musée du Luxembourg quickly acquired this notable example of his work. From 1855 to 1859 Frémiet devoted himself to a series of military statuettes for Napoleon III. He produced his equestrian statue of "Napoleon I" in 1868 and of "Louis d'Orleans" in 1869 (at the Château de Pierrefonds) and in 1874 the first equestrian statue of "Joan of Arc", erected in the Place des Pyramides of Paris.
At the same time he exhibited his masterful "Gorilla and Woman", which earned him a medal of honor at the 1887 Salon, despite the scandal caused by the representation deemed obscene. Of the same type and even more remarkable is his "Orangutans and Savage of Borneo" of 1895, a commission from the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Frémiet also executed the statue of "St Michael" for the top of the spire of the church of St Michel and the equestrian statue of Velasquez for the Jardin de l'Infante in the Louvre. He became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1892 and replaced Barye as professor of animal drawing at the Museum of Natural History in Paris.