Lucien-Paul Pouzargues (1878-1957)
Biography
Artist and illustrator Lucien-Paul Pouzargues was born at Courbevoie, north west Paris on 29 September 1878.
According to the dated stamp on one of the drawings in the collection below, Pouzargues entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1898. Here, he studied under Léon Bonnat (1833-1922).
Artist and illustrator Lucien-Paul Pouzargues was born at Courbevoie, north west Paris on 29 September 1878.
According to the dated stamp on one of the drawings in the collection below, Pouzargues entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1898. Here, he studied under Léon Bonnat (1833-1922).
Kathleen Adler (in Americans in Paris, 2006) provides an insight into an art student’s life in Paris in the second half on the nineteenth century: ‘For most artists, the first obstacle to be overcome…was where to study. To be an art student meant negotiating a highly competitive system. Admission to matriculation at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, established in 1648, was by a rigorous and demanding process of competition, open only to men until 1897. The crucial part of the concours was the execution of a drawing, either from the antique or from life, over two six-hour sessions [Pouzargues’ Concours d’Emulation entry can be viewed here]. Only students who had satisfied the criteria for matriculation could call themselves students in the Ecole…Kenyon Cox [American artist] described the arrangement of the Ecole in a letter home in 1879: ‘The ‘Beaux-Arts’ is arranged after this fashion. There are several large halls filled with plasters from the antique and Renaissance sculptors, and in these halls the primary pupils of all the masters work together, the masters coming round twice a week to criticize…’’
In 1900, Pouzargues became a member of the Société des Artistes Français, winning a Gold Medal in 1920. From that year until 1937 he was a regular contributor to the weekly newspaper L'Illustration.
Pouzargues died on 15 February 1957.
The Collection
This remarkable suite of fin de siècle drawings was discovered in 2017. The 37 sheets were tightly rolled and, seemingly, had been that way for many years. In early 2020, following three years during which the sheets were laid flat beneath weights to straighten them out, the beauty and skill of Pouzargues' draughtsmanship was finally revealed.
This remarkable suite of fin de siècle drawings was discovered in 2017. The 37 sheets were tightly rolled and, seemingly, had been that way for many years. In early 2020, following three years during which the sheets were laid flat beneath weights to straighten them out, the beauty and skill of Pouzargues' draughtsmanship was finally revealed.
The drawings were undertaken at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris in the last years of the nineteenth century. The majority of the collection reflects the nature of academic art teaching of the time. Female and male figure studies were meticulously recorded as were classical sculptures. Contrastingly, a small number of the drawings below hint at a more modernist approach.
All of the drawings are held in a private collection. Due to Pouzargues’ relative obscurity and the small number of drawings and paintings by the artist in the public realm, the owner has kindly allowed us to share images of these works.
Clicking on the images or titles will take you to each drawing’s page.
