Toomey & Co. Auctioneers

French artist Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux was born in Valenciennes in 1827. He was a mason's son and studied art initially with François Rude before attending the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Carpeaux won the Prix de Rome in 1854 and moved there subsequently to observe the works of Michelangelo, Donatello, and Verrocchio at close range. From these Italian masters, Carpeaux brought the elements of motion and surprise to bear on his Baroque-influenced work. In contrast to classical tradition, Carpeaux found his models in the streets of Rome.

After starting out as a portrait painter, Carpeaux shifted his focus to sculpture, eventually becoming the most esteemed sculptor in France during the rule of Napoleon III. Carpeaux even arranged to have one of his associates produce a marble statue of the emperor and Carpeaux later sculpted a bust of Princess Mathilde. Diverging from the more formal, French academic style that held sway when he began working, Carpeaux elucidated a dynamic realism through his Romantic sculptures that gained many admirers and emulators, including Auguste Rodin.

Carpeaux's time in Rome proved a source of continuing inspiration after his return to France. In particular, he was awestruck by the frescoes of Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel, most notably, The Last Judgment panel. This, along with the classical Rhodes statue, Laocoön and His Sons, led Carpeaux to carry out experiments that evolved into what many consider his greatest work, Ugolino and His Sons. The central subject of the work is Ugolino, a 13th-century count from Dante's Inferno who is imprisoned and starving with his children. In 1863, the French Ministry of Fine Arts cast Ugolino and His Sons in bronze and installed the sculpture in Paris' Tuileries Garden next to a replica of Laocoön and His Sons. A marble version of Ugolino and His Sons was produced by Carpeaux for the 1867 International Exposition. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City later acquired the marble sculpture for its collection.

After being made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 1866, Carpeaux teamed with his brother to sell various reproductions of his famous works and create new compositions with wide commercial appeal. Carpeaux also taught several notable artists, including his countrymen Jules Dalou and Jean-Louis Forain as well as the American sculptor Olin Levi Warner. In 1875, Carpeaux died at George Barbu Știrbei's château in Bécon-les-Bruyères, outside Courbevoie.