Jules Desbois French, 1851-1935

The present model appears to be a sketch for Desbois' Satyr Catching a Nymph in a Net, a large version of which was sold in these rooms on 4th June 1998. Desbois was a collaborator and follower of Rodin, and his work is associated with both Art Nouveau and taille directe. A student at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts in 1873, Desbois worked in Pierre Cavelier's studio. After a two year stay in New York, where he worked with John Quincy Adams, he returned to Paris and made his debut at the Salon with a bust of Orpheus.

Three years later he met Rodin in Carrier-Belleuse's studio and they worked together as practitioners in Eugene Legrain's atelier. Desbois came under the older sculptor's dominating influence, a relationship which developed into a long-standing collaboration and mutual admiration; Butler describes him as 'the pillar of Rodin's atelier.' His style increasingly moved towards a much greater realism, sculpting in marble en taille directe, as well as working in ivory and wood. However his work is also deeply personal, lyrical and sensual.

RELATED LITERATURE
Butler, pp.57, 262-3