Irénée Rochard (1906-1984) ◊ The panther ◊ Bronze

Description

It was the sculptor who wanted to “pay tribute to the animals”. Born in 1906 in Villefranche-sur-Saône in a family of artists, he moved very quickly towards animal sculpture and at the age of 22, just after graduation of the Beaux-Arts, he obtains his first prize for a panther life size. Many distinctions will follow throughout his international career, where he will mix with François Pompon and Marcel Edouard Sandoz, other immense artists of the inter-war period.
He constantly seeks to give intelligence to his animals, by bringing out their personality. Hundreds of animals, domestic and wild, carved in their daily attitude, but always with great delicacy. As if they had stopped, to be admired for a moment. His modern style is famous for the suppleness and elegance of his forms. He died in Paris in 1984, leaving a remarkable work whose value rises every day for connoisseurs.